Redemption
by Jgill
Summary: This story continues where the Order of the Dragon ended. See comments in Prologue for a more detailed summary...255 Characters are just not enough. Rated M for cautionary reasons.
1. Prologue

**Authors Note**

**This story continues where the Order of the Dragon ended. Harry struggles to move on with his life after Ginny has ended their relationship, he meets a beautiful young actress that helps him heal is wounds. Hermione works to overturn the pureblood marriage laws that for all intents and purposes make witches slaves to their husbands. Ginny realizes that she has made a huge mistake in letting Harry go, Will she try and win Harry back, or let him find happiness with his new found friend. Ron and Hermione discover the joys of married life, and are living happily ever after. But even the best marriage in the world suffers through dark times...  
**

I was going to wait for about a week before starting to post my sequel to the order of the Dragon, but I was happy to get the all the reviews and feedback of the Order of the dragon.

The ending to the Order of the Dragon was very hard for me to write, and I could not leave Harry alone and isolated, so I thought i would write a second story. This story is going to focus on Harry and a new Character Emily Watts an original character. I would love to see if anyone can spot who the Emily Character is based on...It should not be hard. The story is also going to tell Ginny's and Ron's stories as well. I also will be having a bit of fun with Hermione and Ron as a married couple.

Unlike the Order of the Dragon I am not waiting until this story is completed to start posting...That is the bad news I guess. The good news is I have already got ten chapeters written and will be posting one chapter a week as I did with the Order of the Dragon. So without further comment here is Redemption.

Prologue

May 2nd, 1999

Harry Potter felt the cool May breeze as he stepped out into the early evening. He was losing the battle to keep his emotions under control. He knew Ginny did not say that he had ruined her family. Even though she had not said anything, her silence was as good as a thousand words. She blamed him for Fred's death, for Bill getting mauled, for George being maimed and both Mr. Weasley and Ron nearly dying. Blaine was right, the Weasley's would have been better off if he had never asked them how to find platform 9 ¾ seven years ago. At least he now knew why Ginny broke it off with him.

As Harry stepped into the night he heard Ron calling him.

"Harry wait a minute!" Harry turned to see Ron running after him. Harry slowed and waited for Ron to catch up to him. He would let Ron tell him what a git he was for ruining his wedding, and then he could leave.

"Harry, please tell me you don't believe what that git just said to you?"

Harry looked at Ron, but he did not answer him.

After a few seconds of silence Ron continued.

"Harry, no one in my family regrets you coming into our lives…"

Harry finally spoke.

"I can think of one." He tried to hide how much he had been hurt by Ginny's silence as she let Blaine say those things.

"Ginny does not feel that way either Harry."

"Ron, her silence said it all." Harry looked away from Ron. He did not want him to see he was still not over Ginny.

Ron had no answer for Harry. He had no idea why Ginny would let Blaine say those things. Once again, Ginny had caused more damage by not saying anything than she could have had she screamed at Harry.

"Harry," Ron said slowly, "You've been my best mate for years. I know I messed up when Ginny broke up with you and I am sorry, you have to know that tosser does not speak for the Weasley family. You belong here more than he does…Don't go"

Harry was grateful to hear Ron apologize to him. He also needed to hear from Ron that he had wanted him at his wedding. However he just could not stay. He could not bring himself to be in the same room with his sister right now.

"Ron, I can't." He looked at Ron, "It hurts too much to see her."

Ron nodded. He understood what Harry was saying.

"Tell Hermione I am happy for the both of you ok. I am sorry I ruined your wedding."

"Harry, you did not ruin anything." Ron held out his hand. When Harry took it he pulled him into a brotherly hug. "You can join us for dinner when we get back from our honeymoon."

Harry smiled at Ron's invite. He knew he would enjoy being with his two best friends again. He had missed them. It would be sometime however. He had to return to the United States to train with his new Rapid Response Team. He had returned to England to put his team together. He told Ron that they could get together as soon as he got back from America.

Ron watched sadly as Harry left the grounds.

****

Hermione saw the tears in Ginny's eyes and did not say what was on her mind. It was clear Ginny was hurting. She looked at Hermione, tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Hermione," she collapsed to the floor. Hermione ran to her friend, as she took Ginny into her arms she cried "What have I done?"

Hermione felt someone try to pull her away from Ginny. She started to turn away thinking that it was Molly, She turned to see Blaine.

"I'll take care of her" he whispered.

Hermione felt Ginny shaking her head negatively in her shoulders.

"I think you have done enough." She hissed at him.

Blaine looked at Hermione and whispered to her angrily.

"If you hadn't insisted on that git being invited I would not have had to say anything."

George's voice boomed angrily before Hermione could answer.

"And what Git is that?" George was clearly angry. Hermione looked back and could see all the Weasley boys were staring at Blaine, looking like they were ready to kill him.

Blaine either did not see how angry they were or he did not care, he answered George

"Harry Potter. That git is a…"

Blaine did not get to finish his statement; the loud sound of Hermione slapping him in the face shocked everybody.

Blaine glared at Hermione angrily and raised his hand "You stupid bitch…"

Blaine never got the chance to finish, George grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Hermione and Ginny, George was shouting at him angrily as he dragged him away.

"First you insult one this families greatest friends." As he said this he released Blaine and started shoving him hard, "Then you raise your hand on my sister in law!" He pushed him towards the door, joined by Charlie, Bill and Percy.

As the Weasley brothers were helping Blaine leave the wedding, Hermione turned her attention back to Ginny who was still crying.

"Do you think he meant it?" Ginny asked through her tears

"Meant what?" Hermione asked gently.

"That he's done with me?" Ginny looked up at Hermione. "Have I lost him?"

Hermione sighed softly as she looked at Ginny.

"Yes I think you have Ginny." She heard Molly gasp as she continued "If you think about it you really haven't given him a reason to think you would want anything to do with him."

Ginny began to weep as she realized she had probably lost the one man she had ever really loved…

14 Months Later

Harry Potter stood at the back of the ballroom watching as the guest went about celebrating the end another of the endless muggle awards ceremonies. Harry could not think of anything more boring than a security detail. Especially another one celebrating the end of another pointless awards show that the muggles seemed to love so much. The added security that had been requested for this and the other ceremonies this awards season was pointless.

Harry had shared this opinion with both Kingsley and David Blake. They agreed that since the Order of the Dragon had been broken up almost two years ago there had not been much trouble. Blake pointed out to Harry that the kind of people that attended these events needed to be reassured that everything was being done to protect them, even if it was just for show.

Harry's rapid response team had earned a bit of a reputation over the last eighteen months in the muggle world. They had responded to several high profile incidents, one that had included ending a siege at a school with no casualties. His team had also been involved in some high profile arrest in the Wizarding world as well.

Harry laughed to himself. As usual Harry was getting all the attention, while his best friend, Ron Weasley stayed in the background. The two more well known arrests his team had been involved, they were actually supporting Ron as he concluded cases he had been investigating. It was not fair to Ron, Harry thought, he had become what many in both the Auror department and Scotland Yard believed to be a brilliant detective, yet it was Harry and his team that seemed to get the spotlight.

"Some how I do not think you are a guests for tonight's party."

Harry was taken away from his thoughts by a woman's voice. He looked up to see a nice looking blond girl with dark brown eyes. Harry was sure he had met her before but he could not remember where. Harry was sure he would have remembered meeting someone as pretty as the young lady standing before him.

The young lady laughed at Harry's confused look.

"You don't remember me do you Inspector Potter?"

Harry was taken by surprise. This was a muggle party and even though his team was well known by the muggle authorities, the muggle public knew nothing about them. Harry was an unknown in the muggle world; he was however, still a celebrity in the Wizarding world. To the best of his knowledge there were no wizards or witches attending tonight event.

Harry finally found his voice.

"I'm sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage."

The young woman held out her hand as she introduced herself.

"Emily Watts," She stated as she shook his hand "So what brings you to this fine event Mr. Potter?"

Harry answered her question with one of his own. As he asked he keyed his Mic opened so his question would not only be heard by the woman in front of him but those in the security room as well.

"Have we met before Ms. Watts?"

His question was answered by the Auror manning the security office.

"Emily Watts, Actress age 19. She was the actress that was attacked on stage at the awards ceremony two years ago. You questioned her at St. Mungos. She should not even remember who you are. Maybe the memory charms have failed."

***

Emily could not believe the young man she was talking to did not remember meeting her. She had been in the hospital after that horrible night. She would never forget the young man in front of her. After all it is not every day you find out the world still has Wizards and witches in it.

She knew that she was supposed to have had her memory modified to make her forget about the world of witches and wizards and all that had happened to her that night. However the Healers were worried that the memory charms could cause more damage to her brain. They did not want to take a chance so they had her agree not to mention the world of witches and wizards. She had kept her word, but seeing the young wizard that had questioned her at tonight's party was a bit of a shock to her.

She looked at Harry Potter as she heard a buzzing in one of his ears. It was then she notices he was wearing an earpiece. He was working.

"We met at St. Mungos. You were in handling the investigation into my attack." She answered. She blushed as she continued. "Normally I am not this forward, but I swore to myself if I ever ran into you again I would give you this."

She handed him a card with her private mobile number on it. "Mr. Potter I would be honored if you would give me the chance to get to know you."

With that she turned and walked back to the party. She looked over her shoulder and could see Harry Potter watching her as she walked away. Was it her imagination or was he grinning… God she hoped so.


	2. Purebloods and Halfbreeds Oh My

Hermione argues her first bill before the Wizengamot...

1

Half Breeds and Pureboods-Oh My

"Just what is that mud blood bitch playing at now?"

Eric Bledsoe threw the parchment he had been reading on the table.

He looked around the room angrily. He was not alone in his study, there were about a half a dozen other members of prominent Wizarding families in the room with him, each of them the heads of their families

The Bledsoe's along with ten other pureblood families started meeting shortly after Kingsley Shacklebolt started some of his reforms in the ministry of magic. Bledsoe along with the others in the room with him felt there was no place for muggleborns in the wizarding community. Kinglsey reforms, basically saying for all intents and purposes muggleborns were equal to purebloods had to be opposed.

So far they were able to defeat that Granger bitch's attempt to give rights to the house elves. Who in their right mind would want to give house elves any kind of rights? House elves were only good for being servants? Now she wanted to eliminate the laws that had been made to protect people from werewolves. Who in their right mind would classify werewolves as anything but a dangerous creature! Even if they could be treated they were filthy half breeds. Not only did she want to give werewolves the right to get jobs, worse, she also wanted to give them the right to marry!

It was bad enough that muggleborns were being allowed to marry into pure blood family bloodlines. Granger had contaminated the bloodlines of one of the most prominent wizarding pureblood families by marrying into the Weasley family. The two laws she had presented to the Wizengamot was proof of this. One thing was certain, they had to stop Granger now or she would be a real problem for the purity of the Wizarding race.

Bledsoe knew the rest of the people in the room were waiting for him to speak.

"I cannot believe that the Wizengamot is taking this seriously?"

Adriane Jakes finally spoke.

"Apparently Miss Granger's bill has the backing of Minister Shacklebolt." He paused nervously before continuing. Jakes knew what he was about to say would not go over well with Bledsoe; however he knew he needed to point this out to him. "She also presents a very strong argument."

"I hope you are joking Jakes." Bledsoe stated hotly "How can you say there is an argument for this…" Bledsoe looked at the documents in front of him with pure disgust "travesty" he finished.

Jakes did not back down. Bledsoe needed to know what he was up against; he was surprised when he had received word this bill was going to the full Wizengamot. Miss . Granger had to have presented a very strong case for the bill to go before the full Wizengamot. Bledsoe needed to now this.

"Whether we think this is a good bill or not does not matter." Jakes spoke carefully, he did not want Bledsoe riled up any more than he already was, "Her arguments were strong enough for the bill to be argued before the full Wizengamot."

"Adriane," Bledsoe spoke softly "If you do not think you can defeat this bill then perhaps we need to find a more competent Barrister to represent our interest."

Before Adriane could answer Bledsoe he was interrupted by Thomas Knott.

"I don't think that will be necessary Eric."

All eyes were now on Thomas. Thomas Knott was a member of the Wizengamot, by birthright. His family was an old pureblood line. His along with another twenty pureblood families had seats on the Wizengamot simply because of their family's status in the Wizarding world.

"I do not really believe that Miss Granger's bill is being seriously considered by the Wizengamot."

Adriane looked at Knott, clearly surprised at his statement.

"I assure you Tom, they are taking this…"

Knott interrupted him.

"The Wizengamot would not be foolish enough for something this irresponsible to pass. They are allowing Miss Granger to argue the case to appease her and Minister Shacklebolt. This bill will get as far as her silly House Elf Bill of Rights." He looked at Adriane and continued. "Besides, like her House Elf Bill of Rights she has no standing to bring the law before the Wizengamot."

Bledsoe smiled. Of course Knott was right. Granger would not get anywhere with this law, the Wizengamot just had to appease her since she was one of the members of Golden Trio. Bledsoe laughed, if what he had been reading over the last six months there was no more Golden Trio. Well at least there was on bright side to that bitch marrying that blood traitor Ron Weasley. It had costs Harry Potter his two best friends.

***

"Mrs. Weasley, you may present your argument."

Hermione took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She had been preparing for this argument for two full weeks. Now it was time for her to make her case. She reflected back on all that had to be done for her to get to this point.

People would have thought that Wizarding laws were passed in a very orderly system. That was not the case. In the Wizarding world all laws were argued before the full Wizengamot by either a Barrister or a Solicitor. A Barrister was not only able to present bills to be passed into law before the full Wizengamot, but a Barrister could also argue both Civil and Criminal cases before the courts, which were staffed by the members of the Wizengamot. A solicitor could present bills before the Wizengamot but not argue court cases.

The full Wizengamot had two hundred members. In order to argue her bill before the Wizengamot she first had to submit a brief. Her brief had to state the purpose of her bill, what the law she was trying to pass, how it was to be enforced and finally an arguments supporting the law using British, American and Wizarding common law.

The brief would be reviewed by the senior members of the Wizengamot, if they felt the law was supported by the arguments presented in the brief she would be allowed to present her case to the full Wizengamot. Unlike the muggle government, the members of the Wizengamot did not debate the bill, the bill was argued, much like a case was argued in the courts by two Barristers or Solicitors. One for the bill and one opposed. After the arguments were presented the full Wizengamot would then vote on the bill. If a majority voted in favor of the bill it was passed.

Hermione believed that her hard work in the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures had paid off. It was during her time in the department she not only learned the basics of Wizarding law, but she had also studied for and passed her Barristers exam. She was now arguing her second case as a Barrister before the full Wizengamot. This was something that had never been done by someone as young as her.

She cleared her throat and spoke clearly. Hoping her voice did not show how nervous she was.

"Esteemed members of the Wizengamot,"

Hermione made sure she was looking at the members of the Wizengamot and not at a piece of parchment. She had read it would be more effective when making an argument to make eye contact with the people you were making the argument before, than if you were looking down at a prepared speech. She continued.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you today. I am here today to work with this esteemed body to address a great injustice…"

Adriane Jakes interrupted her, by standing up and moving onto the floor.

"The only injustice I see here," He looked at Hermione with disdain as he continued. "Is that Miss. Granger has been allowed to waste this esteemed bodies time with a bill that at best is laughable."

Hermione just gave Jakes the sweetest smile she could.

"Perhaps if Mr. Jakes would let me present my argument, he would see this is not a waste of the Wizengamot's time."

"I would be happy to hear why Miss. Granger feels this bill is not a waste of all of our time." A Jake's continued he motioned as if he was dismissing Hermione, "However I do not see where Ms. Granger has any standing to present this bill."

Hermione smiled to herself. She had lost first attempt at arguing a bill before the Wizengamot on a technicality. A Barrister or Solicitor could not just present any bill they wanted to argue before the Wizengamot. They had to be representing a person or entity. She had no client when she submitted the House Elf Bill of Rights and the bill had been dismissed.

When she prepared her brief she purposely had left out the affidavits of standing, naming who her clients were. She hoped that her opposing council would see that she had not submitted her affidavit and try this. She also did additional research. The rules of the Wizengamot did not require she submit the affidavit with her brief as most Barristers did. All she had to do was submit the affidavit at the time she argued her case.

Hermione handed Jakes her affidavit of standing, and another the clerk.

"My apologies," her voice showed she was anything but sorry, "In my hurry to complete and submit my brief I forgot to include my affidavit of standing. As you can see today I am representing three clients, Lavender Brown, Theodore Lupin and the Ministry of Magic."

Jakes looked at the document she had given him. For a second she could see she had surprised him. However he quickly recovered and looked at her as he spoke.

"Miss Granger seeing that this is _only_ the second bill you have argued before the Wizengamot I would like to give you a little bit of leeway." He gave her a sympathetic look as he continued, "However, I am sure that any one that has had experience before this esteemed body is aware that they must submit proof of standing with their briefs."

Jakes looked up to the Chief Warlock.

"Since Miss. Granger in her inexperience failed to submit proper documentation of her Legal standing with her brief I ask that the Chief Warlock dismiss this bill for lack of legal standing."

As Hermione answered Jakes she too addressed the Chief Warlock.

"Actually Mr. Jakes, Wizarding law states that proof of standing is to be shown at the time a bill is argued before the full Wizengamot, not with a brief supporting a bill. The practice of submitting proof of standing with a brief was started to avoid having to argue legal standing before the Wizengamot. By submitting my proof of standing now I am within the law."

Jakes looked at Hermione; he was clearly surprised by her argument. He went to his table and pulled out his book on procedures, as did the Wizengamot's clerk. Hermione was correct in her thought that everyone was so used to how things were done, they thought this was law.

The clerk found what he was looking for in his book and whispered to the Chief Warlock. As the clerk stepped away the Chief Warlock spoke.

"It seems Mrs. Weasley you are correct. Motion for dismissal is denied. You may proceed."

Jakes stared at Hermione sullenly. He realized that Hermione had withheld the affidavit of standing on purpose. He was counting on the bill being dismissed right away. He knew his other arguments against the bill were extremely weak.

Over the next hour, Hermione argued that lycanthropy was now a treatable disease. She presented testimony from several respected healers from St. Mungos as well as one of the prominent potion masters in London explaining how the Wolfsbane potion worked.

Jakes smiled to himself. Granger had presented a strong case. However she had not addressed the main issue many wizards had when it came to werewolves. Werewolves had been known to attack and kill people, and when not killing, infecting their victims with lycanthropy. Jakes had documentation of at least fifteen attacks over the last three years to support his argument. He wanted to pick the right time to interrupt the case that Granger was presenting. He could not believe that Granger had missed the fifteen attacks while she was preparing her argument. She may be brilliant, but she was also careless. Jakes listened as Granger continued.

"So as you can see, lycanthropy is a treatable disease. With the treatments available today werewolves can be made harmless during the…"

"Did my ears deceive me?" Jakes shot out of his chair, this was statement he was waiting for. "It seems that Miss. Granger has failed to completely research her case."

Jakes smirked at Hermione as he continued.

"Werewolves are far from harmless as Miss. Granger would have you believe."

He handed Hermione and the clerk a copy of the report he had prepared on werewolf attacks over the last four years. "As you can see, this is documentation of at least fifteen attacks by werewolves over the last four years. Eight of which have resulted in the death of its victim, the other seven have contracted lycanthropy as the result of their attacks. Given the evidence I am shocked that Miss. Granger would even make the statement that werewolves are harmless!"

"My name is Weasley Mr. Jakes" Hermione smiled as she answered Jakes, "Had you done your research you would have known I took my husbands name when I married him." She then handed the clerk and Jakes her own document. "Had you in addition to researching my name researched these attacks you would see the attacks were all committed by Fenrir Greyback, who is now serving a life sentence in Azkaban prison."

Jakes glared at Hermione, keeping his anger in check he answered quickly.

"That does not change the fact that werewolves attacked…"

"Werewolf." Hermione interrupted.

Jakes waived her off.

"It does not matter if only one werewolf committed the attack, any werewolf could…"

Hermione once again interrupted Jakes sharply.

"Mr. Jakes what is your blood status?"

Jakes glared at Hermione as he answered.

"I do not see how my blood status is relevant to this case and I ask the Chief Wizengamot to remind Miss. Granger that blood status is not the issue here."

Hermione addressed the Chief Warlock.

"I ask the Chief Warlock to give me some leeway here. I think if he will have Mr. Jakes answer my questions the relevance of my question will be made clear."

"You may proceed Mrs. Weasley, but you are on a tight leash so make your point quickly." The Chief Warlock addressed the next part of his statement to Jakes,"Mr. Jakes I must insist that you address Mrs. Weasley by her proper name. Her Marriage to Ronald Weasley is well documented."

Hermione asked Jakes for his blood status again.

"Pureblood." He answered, not sure where Hermione was going.

"I also believe that Bellatrix Lestrange was also a Pureblood?" Hermione inquired sweetly. He answered she was. Hermione won her case with the next question she asked.

"So by your logic, you and every Pureblood in this room is also a cold blooded Murderer would you agree with that?"

Jakes did not answer the question. He knew he was beaten and would not dignify the question with its obvious answer.

Shortly after that Lupin's law passed in by a vote of 150 to 50.

***

Jason Walker stared at the parchment in his hands and shook his head in disbelief. The Walker family had not heard anything from the Knott family in more than nineteen years. After Lord Voldemort had been banished by Harry Potter, the Walker made it a point to distance themselves from the Pureblood families that had fallen under his control. The Walkers had no wish to tarnish the family name by associating with known death eaters. The Knott's may have not been convicted by the Wizengamot, but it was well known they were Death Eaters. This was proven by the fact that the senior member of the Knott family was currently in Azkaban prison for war crimes.

That had been a very dark time in the Wizarding world. Many families had members disappear, all assumed murdered by Lord Voldemort. Not wanting to have the same happen to his loved ones Jason Walker had made a huge mistake. He entered into an arranged marriage agreement with the Knott Family. His daughter Katrina would marry Theodore Knott, the son of Theodore Knott Sr. who was a well known death eater. In exchange, the Knott's would guarantee the safety of the Walker family.

With the fall of Voldemort the Walkers and Knott's never discussed the arranged marriage any further. Jason had assumed since he had not heard from the Knott's that the arranged marriage was off and did not stop his oldest daughter from dating.

His daughter was now engaged, and set to marry a wonderful muggleborn boy by the name of Arnold Kaplin. How could he break his daughter's heart by telling her she could not marry a man she was clearly in love with, and make her marry a man she had never met?

He looked at the letter in his hands. The letter was from the senior member of the Knott family Thomas. The letter stated the Knott family expected the Walker's to honor the arranged marriage that had been agreed to, and present their daughter to her future husband in no less than two weeks. It also stated that should he refuse they demanded he appear before the patriarch of the Knott family and explain why they were not going to honor the contract.

Jason knew there was nothing to debate. His daughter would marry the man she had fallen in love with. Not someone that she had never met. Jason reached for a piece of parchment and a quill and began to wrote his response to the elder Knott, informing him that his daughter was already engaged to be married and she would not be available to marry his nephew. He also informed the elder Knott, since he was clearly stating the reason for not allowing the arranged marriage to go through, it would not be necessary for him to appear before him.


	3. Rainy Days and Sundays

Authors Note

Sunday dinners are a big deal for the Weasley family. This chapter is about how each of the charactors are dealing with the events from the end of the Order of the Dragon. At first I did not like this chapter, however after my beta read it, and I read it s second time I did like it. Not alot happens in this chapter but it still makes some important points for the stories plot. Enjoy and please review.

2

Rainy days and Sundays

Harry was awakened by Kreacher pulling the curtains in his bedroom opened. As he opened the curtains Kreacher spoke in his raspy voice.

"Good morning Master, what would you like for breakfast today?"

Harry thought for a few seconds and answered "Just some bacon and eggs will be fine Kreacher."

As Kreacher scampered off to the kitchen, Harry lay still on his bed. It was Sunday; he did not have to go to work today. After a few minutes Harry stepped out of bed and headed into his workout room and began his morning workout. Since finishing his training at with the Americans he had adapted a regular workout routine to keep himself in shape.

After a vigorous workout he stepped into the shower, and sat down for a leisurely breakfast. It being a Sunday he really had nowhere he had to be. So as he did every Sunday he ate his breakfast and read the Sunday prophet as well as muggle Sunday paper.

Once he finished his breakfast he set off to see his Godson Teddy. Harry made it a point to visit Teddy every Sunday for at least a couple of hours. He would in most cases take him to the local park to plau. He would then spend a few minutes talking with his Grandmother, seeing how he was doing and if there was anything he needed.

After finishing his visit with Teddy Harry decided it would be nice to go flying. Harry apparrated to Hogsmeade. Once at Hogsmeade he walked quickly to the gates of Hogwarts. He waited for someone to come down from the school to open the gates. He did not have to wait long before Headmistress McGonagall arrived to let him in.

"Mr. Potter it is good to see you again." She greeted him warmly. "I have to admit when I offered to let you use the Quidditch pitch; I did not expect to see you every Sunday."

Harry gave her a weak smile as he answered.

"I just can't seem to resist"

Harry avoided the headmistresses gaze as they headed towards the pitch.

"I would be willing to bet flying would be a lot more fun at the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley's to fly with you Harry."

Minerva looked at the young man walking beside her. She did not know all the details of what had happened with Ginny Weasley. Looking at the young man walking besides her she knew he had not gotten over whatever happened.

Harry responded softly.

"I am sure it would be." He looked at Minerva sadly, "However I think I will let the Weasley's enjoy their Sunday."

Having arrived at the pitch Harry mounted his broom and took off.

Minerva watched as he flew around the pitch. No one deserved to spend their birthday alone she thought to herself as she headed back to the castle.

***

Ginny Weasley searched through her flat, but no matter how hard she searched she could not find her wand. She remembered having it with her when she got ready for bed the night before, she just could not remember what she had done with it. She looked at the clock and shouted in frustration. She was going to be late for dinner…again.

It seemed no matter how hard Ginny tried she just could not seem to get her act together. Today was no different. Having overslept, she quickly got herself ready to go to her parents. It looked like she was going to be on time. Then she went to grab her wand. Things had gone downhill from there.

Maybe I am just trying to find away to avoid facing her family today, she thought to herself. She knew today was July 31st. She knew what day it was. She also knew everyone would be thinking of the one person that would not be at the Burrow today.

Ginny wondered how things with Harry had spun so quickly out of control. She realized a lot of how things had turned out with Harry and her family was her fault. First she did not tell them she had ended things with Harry. The reason she had not said anything was at the time she had not intended on ending her relationship with Harry completely. She just needed time to figure some things out.

If Ron had not interfered she may have had a chance to make things right with him. The problem was Ron had gone off half cocked, not knowing the full story to straighten Harry out. She knew she shared some of the blame, having not said anything to her family about what was going on was a huge mistake. She had never expected Ron to go and beat Harry.

At the wedding it seemed she and Harry might start speaking to each other again. He was no longer avoiding her, or so it seemed. Then that pratt Blaine had to open his mouth. She could not believe the things he said to Harry. She also could not believe she just stood there while he was saying those horrible things. She did not understand how Harry could believe she blamed him for everything that had happened to her family. She also knew she had said nothing to contradict what Blaine had said to him. She remained silent as he informed her he was done and walked out of her life. Ginny would do anything to go back in time and fix things.

Get yourself together Ginny, she thought, it's too late now. You have not seen Harry Potter in over a year. From what she had heard Harry barely kept in touch with Ron and Hermione. Sure he saw Ron at work but it's not like he was visiting them every night. She knew for a fact they were not seeing him on weekends. Sunday dinner was a big deal now that had started shortly after Ron and Hermione had gotten married. Harry had been invited, but he never responded to her mother's invitation.

Ginny knew for a fact Harry's' absence was because of how things ended with her. She knew he believed everything Blaine said to him at the wedding. She also knew Ron had tried to convince him that the Weasley's did not blame him for any of those things. She also knew Harry simply answered by asking if no one believed that why had Ginny not said anything to contradict Blaine. No one could answer that question, not even Ginny. She wished she knew why she had not stepped in, but the fact remained she had not. Her silence had a terrible cost as Harry Potter would not have anything to do with the Weasley family, and she knew that was her fault.

***

Ron loved to watch Hermione sleep. He loved how peaceful she looked when she was in a deep sleep. That is why Sunday mornings was one of his favorite times of the week. Hermione slept a little later on Sundays. If Ron was lucky he would wake up before she did and get the chance just to watch her sleep. Watching her sleep he felt like he was the luckiest man in the wizarding world.

Lying beside him in the bed was the woman that was considered by most in the wizarding world to be the most brilliant witch of her age. She could have done anything she wanted, she was that brilliant! She could have any wizard she wanted! For some reason that eluded Ron she chose him. Not only had she chosen him, she married him. Not Victor Krum but plain old Ron Weasley.

As Ron looked down at his sleeping wife, his face said it all. He was happy. If he had known things would be this good with Hermione, he would have plucked up the courage to make her his girlfriend back at Hogwarts.

"How long have you been watching me?" Ron smiled at Hermione as she looked at him.

"Long enough to realize how lucky I am" He answered as he kissed her good morning.

The kiss became more passionate and soon the couple found their hands exploring each other. Soon the two of them were moving in rhythm with each other. Ron took his time, he liked to make his time with his bride last. It was over all too quickly for Ron's liking.

"I could get used to waking up like this" Hermione whispered as he held her.

"So will you marry me?" Ron looked down at her seriously as he asked,

Hermione smiled at him.

"I don't think my husband would allow that" She answered.

"What do you think he would say about what we just did?" Ron asked as he gave her a kiss.

Hermione slapped at him payfully.

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him."

Ron ended the game with "I love you Mrs. Weasley"

Hermione started to get up, she gave him another kiss and answered "I love you too Mr. Weasley." She then gave him a wicked smile.

"Want to wash my back for me?"

"You know you're going to kill me 'moine" He said as he got up.

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Well then you will die with a smile on your face Ronald."

***

Enjoying a long and leisurely shower in which Ron made love with Hermione again led to the two of them arriving to the Burrow late. As they stepped out of the fireplace George looked up at them and sighed with a grin.

"Honestly you two have been married for over a year; will you stop acting like a couple of newlyweds?"

Hermione just smiled at George as she answered

"It took four years to get Ron to notice I was a girl and another two to get him do to anything about it" She gave Ron a passionate kiss then continued "I intend to enjoy…"

"Hermione Please!" Ginny sounded horrified, "I don't need a mental image of you and my brother…" Ginny shuddered. Both girls started to laugh as they walked into the dining room.

Soon the Weasley's were once again enjoying a Sunday dinner. Thankfully no one mentioned that it was Harry's birthday.

***

You've defeated all kinds of dark wizards! Harry chided himself silently as he stared at the business card in his hand. This is just a simple phone call. All he had to do was dial the number and talk to her. So why was his heart racing, he wondered.

He knew why. It had been a long time since he had ever thought about talking to another woman. He knew why he was afraid to make the call. He did not want to have his heart shattered again. Besides she was a famous muggle actress. She could have any bloke she wanted. But she gave her private phone number to you Potter! He reprimanded himself.

It had been a quite day. Harry spent some time flying. He came home to his condo after flying for a couple of hours to find Pig waiting for him. He opened the letter to find Ron and Hermione had sent him a nice birthday card, also asking him to their flat for dinner. He promptly accepted their invitation, asking if he could bring a guest.

It was his asking about bringing a guest that had led to his current dilemma. Why would he ask if he could bring a guest? He couldn't show up without a date that would lead to too many questions. Both Ron and Hermione had been hinting, subtly that Harry should move on with his life.

Damn it Harry! Where is your courage? It's just one phone call.

Before he knew it he was dialing her number.

Before he could hang up she answered the phone.

"Uhm, Can I speak to Emily?" Smooth he thought to himself. She had told him this was her private line.

"This is Emily." She answered. "Inspector Potter, I was beginning to think you had lost my number."

Wait a minute, he had not told her who was calling, how did she know it was him?

"I don't know many people that work for Scotland Yard Inspector Potter" She explained.

"Oh" It dawned on him. Caller Id, "You can call me Harry. Inspector Potter seems a bit formal."

They ended up talking for almost an hour. Harry enjoyed talking with her and by the end of the call he had asked her to join him for a coffee. To his surprise she accepted his invitation.

Harry smiled as he hung up the phone. See, he told himself, that was not so bad and she said yes!"

As it turned out, Harry did not have a bad birthday after all.


	4. Let's Dance

**Authors Note**

I want to thank those that have taken the time to post a review on Redemption. I already have 11 chapters of this story completed and I hope to continue to be able to update once a week. I have quite a bit of this story already planned out, it is just a matter of writing the events down.

So Harry attends the ministers dance with his new girlfriend Emily. What happens when he runs into is ex fiance Ginny Weasley....

3

Let's Dance

Thomas Knott stared angrily at the letter in his hand. The letter was from Jason Walker. It was his response to the letter he had sent him, informing him the Knott family would be executing the marriage contract, and demanding the Walker family present their daughter Katrina to his nephew Theodore. Walker's letter refused. It also stated that his daughter was already engaged to another man and she would be marrying him.

Knott threw the letter down. He could not believe Walker's gall. He was refusing to honor the marriage contract. He looked at Bledsoe.

"Walker has a lot of gall." He looked at Bledsoe in the eye and angrily stated "He is refusing to have his daughter marry Theodore."

Bledsoe chuckled at Knott's anger.

"You really did not think the Walker's would just present Katrina did you?"

Knott glared at Bledsoe as he answered "I thought the Walkers were an honorable family and they would do the honorable thing and honor the agreement they entered into."

"Then my friend you are naive." Bledsoe answered coolly "Did you ever wonder why we chose this particular family?"

Knott knew that Bledsoe had someone pour over the paperwork of all the families within their group. He did not know what Bledsoe had been looking for. To be honest he had completely forgotten about the arranged marriage his family had made with the Walkers. But he never asked the reason behind his asking him to move forward with the agreement.

He did not answer but Bledsoe explained himself.

"Katrina Walker is engaged to a muggleborn." He stated.

Knott looked up shocked. Of course Walker would refuse to have his daughter marry his nephew. Bledsoe must have known Walker would refuse to present his daughter for a marriage she did not want. They had put walker in an impossible situation.

"If his daughter is already engaged then why would we…"

"Think Knott!" Bledsoe answered sharply. "One pureblood line has already been spoiled when the Weasley boy married that mudblood! We cannot allow another pureblood line to be contaminated!"

"I agree Bledsoe, we cannot allow the contamination of another pureblood line, but if Katrina is already engaged you had to know…"

He was interrupted again, but this time by Draco Malfoy.

"Mr. Knott, we never expected the Walker family to present their daughter to marry Theodore." Draco looked at Bledsoe who nodded his head for him to continue. "As a matter of fact we wanted the walkers to refuse the marriage. It is even better that they are refusing to appear before you to explain why."

"I fail to see how this will help us. We have no way to force…" Draco again interrupted Knott.

"Actually we do." Draco handed Knott two documents. "I need you to sign these as a member of the Wizengamot, not as the Patriarch of the Knott family"

As Knott reviewed the documents, Draco explained to him exactly how they were going to force Katrina Walker to marry Theodore.

***

Harry looked at the young lady accompanying him and all he could think was; she looks amazing. Emily was elegantly dressed in a black sleeveless dress that highlighted her figure. The skirt was short, but not too short, going down about midway between her hips and her knees. Emily was in a word…Stunning.

Harry was now very glad he had worked up the courage to call her. Over the last month he had been out on several dates with her. He met her for coffee for their first date. Just in case they did not get long. To his surprise he found that she was very easy to talk to. She also only knew him as Harry. Not the boy who lived or the boy who saved the wizarding world. Sometimes it was nice to be just plain Harry.

After the first date they talked on the phone every night, just getting to know each other. Harry learned that Emily was not that comfortable with being famous, something they had in common. She also was considering leaving the spotlight after she finished out the contract she had for the movies she was currently involved with. She did enjoy acting; it was the other BS that came with it she did not like. She confessed to him that she just wanted to be able to go out with her friends without being bothered by fans.

So for his second date with her, he took her with him to his weekly dinner with Ron and Hermione. To his pleasant surprise Emily and Hermione got a long great. The two of them seemed like long lost friends. Ron thought she was a keeper as well. Harry was relieved. He was afraid that Ron might give him a hard time about dating someone. It was Hermione who had suggested that he bring Emily to the Ministers Ball.

Harry was not sure that would be a good idea, her being a muggle. Hermione pointed out to him that she may be a muggle but she was aware of the wizarding world already. She also reminded Harry that witches and wizards in serious relationships with muggles were allowed to show their significant others the world they came from. She also, without Harry knowing, checked with Kingsley and he had no problem with Emily. Apparently Kingsley was aware of her case, and the fact that her memory had not been modified a year ago.

So here Harry was, at the Ministers ball with, in his opinion, the most attractive woman in the place. His opinion was supported by the looks she was getting from the other men attending the ball. Well there was one Red haired man that did not share his opinion. Harry laughed as thought to himself, some things never change. Many of the single women at the ball were trying to get the attention of his ginger haired best mate and he only had eyes for the brown haired bushy haired witch on his arm.

"Has Ron always been this oblivious?" Emily whispered in his ear.

Harry looked at her and saw she was looking at Ron and Hermione

"For Ron, there is only one woman that will ever get his attention…"

"Hermione." Emily smiled as she finished his statement. "That is so sweet."

"You did not go through six years of school with those two." Harry laughed as they sat down at their tables. "Before they admitted to each other how they felt the two of them were a nightmare."

"Who was a nightmare?" Hermione asked as she joined the two of them.

Harry looked at Hermione as if she needed to get a clue.

"I was just telling Emily about you and Ron at school." He answered, "You know before the two of you got a clue."

Hermione giggled. Something Harry had never heard her do until she and Ron had started dating, and gotten married.

"Harry will never forgive us for what we put him through." She explained to Emily, "Especially sixth year."

"What about sixth year?" Ron asked as he sat down. He looked very confused as the rest of them laughed.

***

Ginny hated these stupid events. If she had not had a guilt trip laid on her by her mother she would not have even come to this stupid ball, she fumed to herself. She was even more angry because even though her parents guilted her into coming to the ball, they had not. They claimed they had to watch Teddy so that Harry could do something that evening. She knew Harry would be doing something far more entertaining than this.

Ginny smiled sadly as she thought about Harry Potter. She wished she could find a way to fix what happened between the two of them. However the letters she had sent to him had been returned, unread, a clear indication that he did not want to have anything to do with her. The thing was, when she thought about it she could not blame him after the way things ended between the two of them.

On the bright side, he was not dating anyone new. She kept up with what Harry was up to by a combination of reading the Prophet and Ron and Hermione. Though she had to admit most of her information came from the prophet because Ron and Hermione normally would not talk to her about Harry.

Ginny spotted Katrina Walker and her fiancé Arnie. Ginny was happy to see a friendly face and she approached her table. She and Katrina met during training camp for the Harpies earlier this year. Ginny was the hot prospect trying out for a spot as chaser on the team, Katrina was a new reporter for Witch Weekly. She was doing a story on women breaking into Quidditch. She and Ginny hit it off and quickly became friends.

"You a starter yet?" Katrina greeted her as she sat down.

"Has hell frozen over?" Ginny answered happily.

This was an inside joke between the two women. Ginny had been one of the starting chasers for the Harpies for the last two months. She took over as starter when one of the chasers had become pregnant and was no longer able to play.

"Not yet." Katrina answered, "However I heard that one of the starters does not believe in the potion."

They both laughed. Ginny said hello to Arnie and asked, "How many more days of freedom do you two have?"

Arnie laughed. "Seven"

Ginny gave him her sweetest smile. "Then there's still time."

"Ginerva!" Katrina tried to sound angry "Are you making a move on my fiancé?"

Ginny looked at her. "I would but my heart belongs..."

"I think that ship has sailed." Katrina said looking at another table.

Ginny followed her gaze. Sitting across the floor from her she saw her brother Ron and his wife, and to her surprise, Harry Potter. Harry was sitting with a pretty blond witch. Ginny thought that maybe she was just someone Harry was escorting to the ball for the minister. That thought was dashed when he saw Harry take and hold his hand out, asking her to dance, As she got up, Ginny felt her heart sink as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Ginny quickly looked away.

***

"Harry, I have to get something to drink."

Emily gasped. She and Harry were on the dance floor. They had been dancing for the last half hour; Emily had not danced this much in a very long time. In addition to being very thirsty, she also needed to catch her breath.

Harry nodded and led her back to their table.

"What can I get you?" He asked

She sat down next to Hermione, who also looked like she was catching her breath. Ron was keeping her out on the dance floor as much as Harry was her. Though it seemed Hermione was used to dancing.

"Why don't you surprise me." She answered.

As Harry walked away Hermione started to laugh

"Either you are very trusting, or you are very brave." She looked at Emily.

"I trust Harry." She answered.

Hermione regarded her for a minute. It seemed to Emily that she was thinking carefully about what she was about to say. Emily just sat, waiting to hear what Hermione was about to say.

"You and Harry seem to be getting on well." The bushy haired girl said slowly.

Emily could hear the caution in her statement. Harry had warned her that Hermione would do this. Harry did not get into any details, but apparently things had ended very badly with Harry's previous relationship. Harry had warned her that she would have to deal with Hermione.

"He's a great guy." She answered, looking to see how Hermione would react. She did not know why but it was important to Emily that Harry's best friends approve of her.

"Yes he is." Hermione paused before continuing. "Harry has been through an awful lot for someone so young." She stated.

"Harry does not talk much about his past." Emily stated "I know he is considered a Hero in your circles, as are you and Ron, but he won't say why."

She desperately wanted to know why; whenever she was with Harry in the Wizarding world he was treated as some kind of Hero. She had asked Harry about it once and he told her it was in the past, and that she should not worry about it. She still remembered the haunted look in his eyes as he answered.

She could tell by the way Hermione looked at her, she was not going to tell her anything about their past either.

"I am sure Harry will tell you about what happened in his own time." Hermione answered, "But it is up to Harry to tell you."

Emily nodded; she knew what this conversation was going to be about. Emily thought about the time she spent with Harry. She knew for a fact she enjoyed being with him. He did not treat her as someone that was famous, but like a normal person. That meant a great deal to her. He knew she was not comfortable with her fame, and even though it meant he had to deal with his own fame, he made it a point to take her on dates in the Wizarding world, where thankfully she was unknown. She was unhappy if for some reason they were not at least able to talk on the phone for a day. If she went several days without seeing him, she felt like something was missing. In a word, she was falling for Harry Potter. Emily did not want to hide that from Harry's best friend, and someone that she had felt was also quickly becoming a good friend as well.

"I think I am falling for him." Emily stated before Hermione could ask anything else. She might as well get it into the open she thought.

Hermione looked surprised by her statement for just a second. Then she gave her a hug.

"I am happy to hear that" Hermione smiled at her. "Harry deserves to have someone special in his life after…" Hermione did not finish what she was saying because Ron and Harry arrived.

"So what are you two getting on about?" Ron asked as he sat down,

"Nothing" Hermione Gave Ron a look that said drop it.

"Falling in love," Emily answered. She had no doubt now that she had fallen for Harry, so why hide it she thought to herself.

"Really," Harry took her hand as he sat next to her. "Who is falling in love?" He asked.

Emily looked at Harry, smiling. "I am" She answered,

Emily could not read Harry's face as he looked at her. "So who's the lucky bloke, anyone I know?" He asked.

Emily swore she he looked like he was afraid of how she would answer the question.

She just gave him a kiss and whispered into his ear, just loud enough for Ron and Hermione to hear her answer. "Of course you know him, it's you,"

***

Ron could not help but notice his best friend smile shyly as he walked with him up to the bar. How long has it been since he had seen Harry smile like that. It was good to know that his friend could still smile.

"It's nice to know you can still do that mate." He stated as he ordered a drink for Himself and Hermione.

Harry looked at Ron, "What's that?" He asked.

"Smile." Ron answered, "It's been so long I am worried that your face might crack."

Harry looked at Ron. "Have I been that bad?" He asked

"Not in the last month." Ron answered, "But before that you were just a bit pathetic."

Harry Nodded. He knew Ron was right. Until he had started seeing Emily he just went to work, then home most days. Except for Wednesday, the night he joined Ron and Hermione for dinner.

"Until last month, I really did not have much to be happy about." Harry answered.

Ron knew that Harry had taken Ginny's breaking up with him very hard. He had stopped coming to the burrow to avoid running into Ginny, he would always check to make sure Ginny would not be visiting him and Hermione before he would come over for dinners. When Ginny ended her relationship with Harry, he not only lost his fiancé, but the only family he had.

Ron looked at their table at his wife and Emily. He could see that Hermione was talking with Emily. The two of them wanted to make sure that Harry did not get hurt again. It was his job to talk to Harry; Hermione had the tough job of talking to Emily.

Ron and Hermione could not help but like the blonde actress. For someone with the fame she had, she was very down to earth. More like just a regular person. Ron and Hermione had been worried that she would pull Harry further out of the wizarding world and into the muggle world. To their relief that had not been the case. She seemed to want to become a part of Harry's world and did not expect him to fit in the muggle world.

Over the last month, Harry had become more like the Harry Ron and Hermione had known. Though he had also become a bit more outgoing than he had been in the past. A couple of times he had cajoled him and Hermione into going dancing with Emily and Him.

He looked and saw that Harry was also looking at the two women talking. There was a spark in his eyes that Ron had not seen in almost a year now. He remembered watching that spark go out at his wedding. It was good to see it coming back. He would never forgive his sister for what she did to his best friend.

He knew that his relationship with Ginny had been strained after she broke things off with Harry. Actually it was not that she had broken up with Harry, that had always been a possibility when the two of them started dating, but more how she had broken up with him. Harry had always carried his fair share of guilt over the people that had been killed or injured during the war. For Ginny to let Harry believe she blamed him for those deaths was just too much.

Ron knew it was the fact that Ginny let Harry believe she blamed him for all that had happened to the Weasley's that Harry stayed away from his only family, not that he did not want to run into Ginny which is what he told everyone. Letting himself believe it was his fault for what happened to the Weasley's made it easy for Harry to blame himself for all the others that had suffered during the war as well. In Harry's twisted logic, had he turned himself over to Voldemort earlier he would have been able to stop the others from suffering.

Ron knew that seeing Emily helped to heal some of those wounds. He wondered if he ever talked to her about the war. He knew that Emily did not know much about the war. She had asked Hermione once, what it was the three of them had done to make themselves so famous. He knew that Hermione had gotten around answering her by telling her that was something Harry would have to tell her.

"So you like her?" Ron did not need Harry to answer his question, he could see the way he looked at Emily he did.

Harry smiled as he watched Emily talking with Hermione.

"She's brilliant!" He looked at Ron and asked "So are you ok with this?"

"With what?" Ron had no idea what Harry meant with his question.

"My dating Emily?" Harry asked. Ron could see by Harry's body language this was something he was very worried about.

"Why would I have a problem with that?" Ron clapped his hand on Harry's back as he answered. "It is clear she makes you happy."

"Ginny is your little sister Ron." Harry answered as if that would explain why Ron would not be ok with his dating someone else.

"Ginny made her choice." Ron answered angrily, "She ended things with you. You deserve to be happy Harry."

Harry looked at Ron. He seemed to be trying to trying to decide how to ask something. Finally he spoke.

"Do you think Molly and Arthur would like her?" He asked tentatively.

"Harry," Ron answered, "What my mom and dad think does not matter, what matters is if you…"

"It matters to me!" Harry interrupted Ron before he could finish. "Your mom and dad are the closest thing I have to parents." Harry looked at Emily as he continued. "I want Emily to meet my family Ron."

Ron looked at Harry, surprised as they headed back to the table, drinks in hand.

"I'm falling hard mate." Harry answered "So I want her to meet my family."

"Are you sure you want to do that to that poor girl?" Ron asked smiling.

Harry laughed as they arrived back to their table.

As they approached Hermione gave Emily a hug. Ron thought to himself what's that all about. So he asked the girls what they were getting on about. Hermione gave him her drop it look. To his surprise Emily answered with 'falling in love."

He watched as Harry and Emily suddenly were in their own world. He saw Harry's face light up when she whispered to him that she was falling in love with him. Ron was torn from the couple by Hermione suddenly gasping and grabbing his arm.

"Bloody hell!" She swore.

Ron looked up to see Ginny approaching the table; this cannot be good he thought to himself.

***

Ginny sat watching Harry and the blond witch dance. She could not ever remember Harry spending so much time on the dance floor. Then again they had not been to many dances while they had been dating, she thought. Actually they had spent more time apart, than together. First with Harry being on the hunt, and then working for the Auror department while she finished school, maybe that is why she fell out of love with him.

Ginny continued to watch Harry and the blond dance. If you're not in love with him, then why does it bother you so much that he is with someone else? She asked herself this over and over again as she sat watching Harry, miserably. Damn it! Why was she miserable? She was the one that ended things with Harry, so why should she even care if Harry was with another girl!

"Remind me who broke up with whom?" Katrina interrupted Ginny's thoughts.

Ginny looked away from Harry and the Blond witch on the dance floor, to look at Katrina. "Hugh?" Was all she got out.

"You have been staring daggers at those two all night Ginny." Katrina sighed, "Honestly the way you have been glaring at them you would have thought that Potter dumped you."

Ginny sighed, and looked at her friend sadly.

"I know I blew it with Harry, I don't need you to remind me." She hissed. She could not take this anymore. Ginny stood up, not sure what she was going to do. Harry and the blond had moved back to their table. She saw the blond and Hermione talking. Great she thought now things will be awkward with my sister in law. Not that they were not awkward already. To Ginny's surprise, Hermione hugged the blonde. What is that all about, she thought. As her brother and Ron arrived back to the table the Blond whispered something in Harry's ear and kissed him. She could see that whatever she said Harry was very happy about it.

Ginny started moving, she did not intend to go over the Harry's table, but before she could stop herself she was almost there. She heard Hermione swear softy. The next thing she knew her brother was next to her, grabbing her arm.

"Haven't you done enough Gin?" He whispered hotly.

Ginny gave him her best innocent look as she answered sweetly.

"What are you talking about Ronald?"

Ron gave Ginny an incredulous look as he answered.

"It took Harry almost a year for Harry to get over what you, don't ruin this for him."

Ignoring him Ginny shrugged past Ron and walked up to the table, where Harry was sitting with the blond witch.

She turned to Ron.

"Aren't you going to introduce me Ron?" She asked sweetly.

Ron just stood there glaring at her angrily. She stared back at him, fire in her eyes.

"Emily," Hearing Harry's voice, Ginny turned to face the couple, "This is Ron's sister Ginny. Ginny this is Emily Watts."

Emily smiled at Ginny as she held out her hand.

"Ginny, it is nice to meet you." Emily knew there was something she was not aware of. You could feel the tension coming from Ron and Hermione, and Harry; well he was just a bit too calm. "I was not aware that Ron had a sister."

Ginny took her hand and shook it. She took a few minutes to apprise the woman she was meeting. Unlike the others, she was relaxed as she shook her hand as if she was not aware of how tense things had become since Ginny had walked to the table. Ginny knew there was no way she could miss the tension. Point one for Emily she thought.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Ginny answered coolly, "So how do you know Harry?"

Emily slid her arm around Harry as she answered. It was clear that Harry and the Red head standing before her had some history; she just wondered what that was.

"We met through work." Emily answered.

Ginny looked at Emily a little closer, there is no way this girl is an Auror, she thought.

"You work for the Ministry then?" Ginny asked, "What department?"

Emily laughed as she answered.

"No I don't work for the ministry," She answered, "Harry was running security for a party I was attending."

"I see" Ginny was trying to remember if she had ever seen Emily at Hogwarts, but she just could not place her. "So what house were you in?" She asked.

"House?" Emily sounded confused.

Harry intervened for her.

"Emily did not go to Hogwarts Ginny."

Ginny looked at Harry, surprised he said anything. She then asked.

"So did you go to Dunstranb, Bauxbaton Academy?"

Emily looked at Harry, clearly not knowing what Ginny was talking about. Seeing the Emily confused look it dawned on Ginny. Emily was not a witch. She was,

"Oh," she said sarcastically , "Forgive me; I had not realized you were a muggle Emily."

Ginny said goodbye to her sister in law and brother and walked back to her table. She shook her head as she walked. Why in the Merlin's name would he date a muggle, he could have any witch he wanted, and he decides to date a muggle. She did not hear Hermione's footsteps behind her until she spoke.

"After what you did," Ginny turned around; Hermione was standing there, looking at her angrily. "What did you expect?"

Ginny tried to bite back her anger as she shrugged by Hermione and left the ball as fast as she could.


	5. Two Dinners

Authors note

First of all I want to thank my friend Nancy kelleher who has been serving as my beta for this story. She has not only helped with my spelling but also on letting me know what is working and not. I also want to thank all of you that have submitted reviews. I am very pleasantly surprised at how you are responding to my Emily Character. I was not sure about bringing her in from The Order of the Dragon, but her character is coming along nicely. Can any of you guess whom Emily's Character is based on? I would love to see what you think in your reviews of this chapter, so please not only post your review but also let me know who you think I based Emily's character off of.

So I am just going to tell you now, things do pick up a bit in the chapter.

So please Enjoy.

Also leave a review and let me know if you have enjoyed the story so far....

4

Two Dinners

"Ron, What's all this?" Hermione surprised voice came from the front room.

Ron smiled to himself as he drained the pasta he had been making. He had taken the day off from work, without Hermione knowing so he could prepare a perfect romantic evening with his wife. He had something he wanted to talk with Hermione about. Something that had been on his mind for the last two months.

"I wanted to surprise you with a romantic dinner." He looked towards the dining room.

Hermione was surprised to see the dining room table had been set with the finest dinnerware they had. In the center were two candles, and at her place setting was a single red rose. She looked at her husband, clearly surprised at the thought he had put into the evening.

"Ron, this is really..."

Before she finished he kissed her deeply. When he broke the kiss he looked at her smiling "Always the tone of surprise." He said.

Hermione smiled at her husband.

"So what's the occasion?" she asked.

Ron led her to the dining room and pulled out her chair, motioning for her to sit. As she did he gently summoned the dinner he had been working on all afternoon, and sat across from her.

As they ate, he asked her about her day, she told him of the few things that had happened at the office. She mainly talked about the research she was doing, trying to find a way to represent her house elf bill of rights. As she finished her meal, she realized Ron had never answered her question.

"Ron?"

"Yes 'Moine"

"You never answered my question." She looked at Ron and she could see he was nervous about something.

Ron looked at her. He knew he had wanted to start a family. He also knew that Hermione was happy with the way her career at the ministry was going. He knew she did not want to give that up, and he would not want her to. He had looked into some options. The ministry would give them both three months of leave when and if they had a baby. The ministry also provided a day care center for parents that worked at the ministry. Allowing parents to visit their young children during their lunch breaks. He wanted to start a family with Hermione, he just did not know if she wanted a family with him. She had been putting in a lot of extra hours lately. Would she want to start a family? Or would she say the work she was doing at the ministry was more important? Ron was afraid she would tell him her work was more important.

" 'Moine," Ron took her hand, "There is something I want to talk with you about."

Hermione felt her heart pounding. Over the last couple of months she had been putting in a lot of extra hours at the ministry. She would stay at the ministry after working hours researching on a way she would be able to present her House Elf Bill of Rights without having a client. Ron had not complained to her about her late nights. He was actually being very supportive of her efforts. She also figured he was getting very tired of hardly seeing her during the week.

That must be what he wanted to talk to her about. Maybe he was going to tell he needed to find himself a wife that would not neglect him as she had been over the last couple of months. That had to be what this was about, she thought. He was going to end their marriage. She looked at him, trying not to show how afraid she was about what he wanted to talk about. She was so wound up about him ending things, she never thought that if someone was ending a relationship, they would not have gone through the effort he had preparing for tonight

"Ron, I am so sorry, I know I have not been the best wife, I swear I will try and do better…" She whispered sadly,

Ron looked at Hermione, confused. What was she on about? He had never even questioned the kind of wife she was. If anything Ron was proud to have the most brilliant witch of his generation as his wife. He knew this meant she would get involved with her projects, just like she did at school. He felt Hermione try to take her hand out of his, he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

" 'Moine, What are you on about?"

She looked at him, clearly confused, why was he mocking her, she looked down at the table, suddenly she heard Ron starting to chuckle to himself.

"'You are not going to get rid of me that easily 'Moine." He had realized that she must think he wanted to end their marriage. He could not believe she was so wrong,

She looked at him, he could see tears at the edge of her eyes, he wiped them away gently with his thumb.

"So what did you want to talk about?" She asked quietly.

Ron looked at Hermione; she could see nothing but love in his eyes as he answered her.

"What do you think about children?" He asked.

Hermione stared at Ron, dumbfounded. She thought he wanted to end everything, but instead he was asking her about children. She suddenly felt very warm, she had thought about having children almost immediately after they had been married. She had imagined what kind of parent the two of them would be. She thought they would be great parents.

"Ours or just children in general?" She saw the answer in his eyes, but she had to ask,

"Ours." He answered.

"Ronald, are you asking me to have your baby?" She asked happily.

"Yes, but only if you…"

Ron did not get the chance to finish what he was saying. Hermione jumped out of her chair and rushed to her husband and gave him a passionate kiss. Then she whispered into his ear as she started to unbutton his shirt

"I think we should get started right away."

***

"Remember your goal is to get Katrina Walker." Bledsoe looked at the group of wizards standing in front of him, "Do not kill anyone, no unforgiveables, defend yourselves if you have to. This is extremely important, only disable your attackers."

"What do you mean only disable?" David Blaine asked, clearly outraged. "These are blood traitors and muggles, why not kill one or..."

"Because that would make this a criminal act, as long as we do this right, the ministry will not be able to do anything about this. The minute someone is killed or unforgivable are used this becomes a criminal act." Bledsoe shouted angrily.

Blaine nodded, but he had no intention of listening. If given the chance he would make an example of the blood traitors.

***

"To the bride and groom!"

Everyone raised their glasses to Katrina Walker and her soon to be husband. As the guests began to sit back down the doors in the back of the dining room shattered into a thousand pieces. Everyone in the room turned to see what had caused the sudden load bang.

Six men entered the dining room. As they entered one of the waiters ran up to them.

"This is a private pa..."

One of the six men shoved him aside. The man crashed into a table, the people sitting at it stood up quickly. One of the men at the table started protest, and was quickly knocked aside by a stunning spell. This along with the attack on the waiter seemed to take the fight out of the room.

Ginny watched as the men walked towards the table that she was sitting with the rest of the bridal party. She did not know what the men wanted but she thought maybe they were looking to rob the guests. Ginny reached under the table to her purse, and slowly began to draw her wand. Whatever these men were up to she knew it was not anything good, and she intended to be able to fight them if she had to.

As she got her wand, the first of the six men to enter the room stopped in front of the bridal parties table. He looked at Katrina and spoke.

"Katrina Walker."

Katrina did not answer him, but glared at him angrily.

"Ms Walker, I do need you to answer me." The man stated calmly.

Katrina still did not answer but continued to glare at the man.

The man nodded to one of the men behind him.

The man he nodded to drew his wand and aimed it at Katrina's father.

"Manus Aduro"

Ginny watched in horror as Katrina's fathers hands suddenly burst into flames. Her father began to scream in pain.

It only took a few seconds before Katrina started screaming for them to stop.

The man who spoke earlier stated again.

"Katrina Walker."

Katrina whispered. "Yes"

He made a cutting motion to the man that had cast the burning spell, and her father slumped down, his hands badly burned.

"I am here representing the marital rights of Theodore Knott, and you will come with us."

The room seemed to all gasp at the same time at the man's pronouncement.

Arnie stepped between Katrina and the six men,

"She is not going anywhere with you!" He stated angrily,

One of the younger of the six men in the group stated in a menacing voice.

"She will not be allowed to marry a filthy mudblood"

As he finished he pointed his wand at Arnie. "Crucio!"

Arnie fell to the ground, screaming in agony; Katrina rushed to his side trying to help ease his pain.

The man that appeared to be the leader of the group turned on the younger man and shouted at him angrily. "No Unforgivables you idiot."

The six men's attention for just a few precious seconds was no longer on the crowd. This was the opening Ginny had been waiting for. She quickly drew her wand and whispered silently "Mico Flatus"

A white orb flew from her wand, once it hit the center of the six men it suddenly exploded, with a very loud bang. The spell was George's answer to muggle flash bang grenades. Ginny was impressed with how effective the spell was. The six men were blinded for a few seconds, and the two of the six closest to where the spell went off were knocked to the ground. The other four were definitely confused,

Ginny immediately sent two quick stunning spells at the group. She was rewarded by the sound of one of the men falling down, stunned. Ginny shoved the best man down as she moved from her spot quickly. The remaining three had recovered enough to send curses in the general area she was. She did not know what spell they had cast but two of the party guests went down, bleeding.

Ginny saw that Katrina had not wasted the time the flash bang spell had given her, she quickly dove for her purse, trying to retrieve her wand. Unfortunately she was hit by a stunning spell and she crumbled to the floor, knocked out.

Ginny had hoped that some of the other witches and wizards might have their wands, but judging by the way they were hiding wherever they could they either did not have their wands, or were too scared to fight. Arnie was no help as he was still writhing in pain from the cruciatus curse, and Katrina's father's hands were too badly burned to be of any good, it appeared that Ginny was on her own, against five. Not good odds

Ginny put up a good fight, knocking at least two more of the six men. The men clearly had not been expecting any resistance. This worked to Ginny's advantage as they were not organized in their counter attacks.

***

Harry loved the sound of Emily's laugh as he continued to describe to her Ron's adventures from earlier that day. He ignored Ron's indignant look. This was just something that was too good not to share with Emily and Hermione.

Ron had been investigating several burglaries in Diagon alley. Most of what had been stolen had been collectables relating to the war. Ron had spent several days questioning known fences in the wizarding community and finally had turned up a solid lead on who was behind the burglaries. It turned out to be an old friend of theirs; Mundungus Fletcher had not reformed his ways.

Ron had set up through contacts he had developed over the last year a meeting with Mundungus to purchase some of the collectables that had been stolen. It turned out the collectables Mundungus wanted to sell were some rare action figures of the golden trio, well one two of the golden trio. Specifically Ron and Hermione, even though anyone that knew Ron and Hermione now knew they had a very loving marriage. Gone was the bickering from the days at Hogwarts, unless you counted their playful banter.

So Ron was able to take Mundungus into custody, and once at the station he had to inventory the merchandise. Harry did not know what happened before he walked into the room he was working in, but he would never forget the site, Ron was holding one of the Hermione action figure. The Hermione figure was clearly indignant and was reading him the riot act.

Both Emily and Hermione were laughing so hard at Harry's description of Ron's expression as the figure exclaimed "Honestly Ronald!"

They were interrupted by a sudden load tone from Harry's belt. The tone was from a pager Harry was wearing. His team was on call tonight. He never really worried about going out with Emily, or Ron and Hermione as he was never paged.

Emily looked at Harry, "What's that?"

Harry reached down and grabbed his pager, "Pager" he answered."

"Aren't you going to look at it?" Emily asked.

Harry was spared from answering as a voice came from the pager.

"RRT to respond to White Fence Farm, Kings Lynn, London, possible death eater attack in progress, Offenders on scene."

Immediately after the pager finished it went off again,

Both Harry and Ron looked at each other upon hearing the second tone. Both Emily and Hermione did not miss their concerned looks as the pager spoke again.

"Mediwizard Response team to respond to White Fence Farm, Kings Lynn for reports of multiple injuries."

As Ron and Harry started to get up, she grabbed her husband's arm and said to him softly,

"I thought this was over,"

Ron just squeezed her hand as he and Harry dissaparated.

Emily did not know what the page Harry got was about, but she could not ignore Hermione's frightened look as she paid left money on the table and got up.

"Do you want some company?" She asked.

Hermione just nodded as she took Emily's hand and dissaparated to her flat.

***

Ginny enjoyed a very brief advantage as the remaining four of the men attacking the Walker's rehearsal dinner regrouped. Ginny took advantage of the few precious seconds to send a message via patronus to the Auror department. Once the message was sent she turned her attention back to her adversaries.

She immediately cast a binding charm on one of the two men that were trying to stand up. Unfortunately the charm was deflected and hit one of the dinner guests that was close by. Seeing her attackers were recovering, she quickly moved from her spot. Just in time too as several hexes hit the spot she was just crouching by.

"Nebulosus." She was rewarded by a thin fog coming from the tip of her wand, and it filling the room. This would make it harder for the men to see her; however it also made it harder for her to see her attacker. To counter this she muttered "promptu hostis," shortly after casting the charm to reveal her adversaries she saw a red glow around them.

Ginny immediately fired off a stunning spell, and another binding curse at the closest attacker to her. He was able to defect the spells, and he returned fire at her with a poorly aimed cutting curse in her direction. She heard someone behind her cry out in pain as they were hit by the poorly aimed curse.

Ginny moved quickly, finding herself back at by the table where the bridal party had been sitting at the head of the room. She peeked over the table and found her attackers had spread out, looking for her in the thin fog. She heard the sound of someone crying. She looked towards the sound to see Katrina holding Arnie, trying to comfort him as he still writhed in pain from the cruciatus curse. How long had it been since he was put under the spell Ginny wondered. She cast the counter curse on him and he stopped writhing in pain. Katrina looked at her and whispered a silent thank you. Ginny just nodded, and looked around the upturned table again. The six men were now heading towards Katrina. One of them was saying.

"Forget the blood traitor; she is not what we are here for."

As they got closer Ginny jumped up and fired a blasting hex at them.

The blasting hex was quickly deflected.

Ginny tried to dodge curse that was fired back at her in return, but her foot got caught on a chair and she suddenly was thrown back by a bludgeoning curse, her wand flew out of her hand as she fell back.

Ginny started to crawl to where her wand had fallen when she felt a sharp kick in her side. She gasped in pain. She felt another kick forcing her on her back. She was now looking up at the young man that had cast the cruciatus curse on Arnie.

"It's that Weasley bitch." He said to his companions

She could see that they were now dragging Katrina from Arnie. She saw that she was fighting them as hard as she could. The man that spoke to her earlier slapped her hard across the face. Whatever fight Katrina had in her was lost by the force of the slap. The leader of the group looked at the man standing over her.

"Forget the Weasley bitch. She is not what we are here for."

The younger man looked at the older one with a rebellious look.

"Forget her, she made a mess out of everything," before the older man could respond he looked back down at Ginny and kicked her one more time.

He then pointed is wand down at her and said "Scapular."

He then thrust his wand at Ginny.

Ginny suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, then the pain moved down and suddenly she was having trouble breathing. The pain from her chest withdrew and she felt the warmth of blood on her back before she passed out she saw the six men that had crashed Katrina Walker's rehearsal dinner dissaparated from the room with Katrina.

***

Harry looked at the White fence farm restaurant, and could see no signs of violence. He could see that his team had set up a perimeter around the restaurant. Harry gave a signal with his hand, and his team cast anti dissaparation charms on the restaurant.

A few seconds later a voice sounded in his ear.

"Perimeter secure."

"All teams report." Harry responded.

Within a few seconds everyone had reported they were ready to start the assault.

Harry looked at Ron.

"Let me secure the restaurant before you can come in with Luna and her Mediwizard once the restaurant is cleared."

Ron gave Harry a look that screamed 'You've got to be kidding'

Before Ron could say anything Harry explained.

"My team has trained together for almost a year, each of us has an assignment, and you would be an unknown."

Ron nodded, he did not like it but he knew Harry was right. He may have worked with Harry to develop his team's tactics, but he had rarely trained with the team for this kind of operation. He knew from working on the tactics that each person in the assault team had a specific job. He would be a distraction that could get one of the team injured.

Seeing that Ron understood Harry moved towards the front door of the building quickly. He took his position on the right side of the door; another team member took the left side. Harry drew his wand, and whispered loud enough for his Mic to pick up,

"On three. One, two, three."

When he reached three, the door was blasted open by a blasting charm. Harry quickly entered the building, scanning the right side of the room for any one that might be waiting for them, seeing no one he stated "Clear."

He heard his partner also state clear. Harry noticed another door at the end of the room that had been blasted open. He motioned towards the door. He did not go right to the door but hugged the wall and worked his way to the door, his partner did the same, again making sure no one was waiting to ambush the two of them as they went to the door.

Harry paused, and looked around the door into the room; he saw no sign of any attackers. Whatever was happening it seemed it had just ended, and the occupants of the room were just starting to recover from it. Harry nodded to his partner and they entered the room. Again Harry went to the right, his partner to the left and quickly cleared the room. He spoke into his mic, "Area secure, and get the mediwizards in here."

***

Ron squeezed Ginny's hand as Luna worked to stabilize her so she could be moved to St. Mungos. Luna looked up from Ginny and whispered to Ron.

"We are ready to take her." Luna said to him softly. "I will take care of her Ron."

Ron thanked Luna and she took Ginny's and dissaparated with Ginny.

Harry approached Ron as he got up, looking at him.

"Luna says she's going to be ok." Ron told him before he asked. He looked around the room. They were lucky, the only serious injury was Ginny, and that was not life threatening.

"That's good." Harry answered.

Ron looked at Harry, and he continued before Ron asked.

"This does not look like a death eater attack." Harry explained. "They were here for Katrina Walker, who is missing."

Harry went on to explain that the men demanded that Ms. Walker leave with them to protect the marital rights of Theodore Knott.

"What the hell does that mean?" Ron asked Harry.

"Don't know." He answered. "Things got out of hand when Ms. Walkers fiancé tried to interfere. He was hit with the Cruciatus curse; apparently the kidnappers did not want any unforgivable cast and started to fight amongst themselves. That is when Ginny made her move. She held the men off for about five minutes but it was six against one, she didn't really have a chance."

Ron nodded as Harry finished. He was going over in his mind what Harry had told him. The one thing that stood out was the attackers statement they were here to protect the marital rights of Theodore Knott. He wanted to know what they had meant by that.

Ron looked around and saw Jason Walker sitting with one of the Mediwizard, who was bandaging his hands. Ron approached him and cleared his throat. Mr. Walker looked up.

"You must be a Weasley." Mr. Walker looked at Ron, "I'd shake your hand but as you can see that's not possible."

"I am Ginny's brother Ron." He introduced himself as he sat next to him, "I am an investigator for the Auror department."

Mr. Walker nodded his head.

"Do you have any idea why someone would want to take your daughter?" Ron asked.

Mr. Walker looked down at his feet, but did not answer.

"If we are going to find your daughter Mr. Walker, we are going to need your help." He said gently.

Mr. Walker looked at Ron, his eyes flashed angrily as he answered.

"I know who has my daughter Mr. Weasley."

It only took Mr. Walker a few minutes to explain everything to Ron. Ron thanked him and motioned for Harry to join him.

"Harry, get a hold of Hermione, We need a search warrant for the Thomas Knott's residence, as well as arrest warrants for Thomas Knott, and Theodore Knott. We also will need to find out any information on the Knott Residence. Let me know when your team is ready, I'll be at St. Mungos."

Ron then dissaparated, he needed to see how his sister was, and be with his family while they waited for word on Ginny's condition.


	6. The Rescue

Authors note: I am giving you all a treat and am uploading this chapter a couple of days early. I want to thank all of those that have taken the time to submit a review, it is nice to know that you are enjoying this story. I actually like this story a lot more than I do The Order of Dragon. I am pretty sure that is because I am developing one of my own charactors(Emily) as well as working on Ron and Ginny Weasley as well.

The one thing that has surprised me is how many of you over the last couple of chapters are pulling for Emily and Harry. I am happy that you hardcore Harry Potter fans like my O.C. However so far no one has responded to my challenge to tell me who the Emily character is based off. You may need to read chapter 10 of the order of the Dragon, which gives a lot of clues as to whom she is based on. To sweeten the pot I will send the first person to guess correctly the real life person emily is base off of the next two chapters of Redemption to read right away...I hope that sweetens things up enough where I will get some guesses.

So for your reading pleasure here is the next thrilling installment of Redemption...The Rescue

5

The Rescue

The large estate house before him was quiet. It was a two story home, much like the stately mansions of the old south in the United States. The front porch was supported by several Greek style columns. In the center was the front door. Ron could see two men standing guard at the front door.

Ron had been to St. Mungos long enough to see that Ginny was going to be ok. He also ran into Hermione and Emily at the hospital. He briefly explained to the two of them what happened. While he was explaining Hermione got a call from Harry, explaining to her what he needed. Hermione said a quick good bye to Ron and Emily and left for the ministry.

Emily felt it would be better if Ron took her to Harry's condo since she did not know any of the others waiting to see Ginny. Ron ignored the questions from his family and took Emily to Harry's flat, then apparrated to the Knott estate to join Harry.

"My team can only spot the two guards at the front door." Harry whispered to Ron as he looked over the house through a set of omnioculars, "The rest of the house is quite."

Ron nodded, looking over the estate with his own set of omnioculars, he was trying to come up with a strategy to get into the house without risking the occupants harming Katrina walker. After studying the house for a few minutes he looked at Harry.

"We need to know where they are holding Ms. Walker."

Harry nodded.

"We have no way of knowing for sure where they have her; my guess is in one of the bedrooms on the second floor." Harry said as he looked into his omnioculars. Ron assumed he was looking at the floor plans for the estate

Ron pulled up his own copy of the floor plans of the Knott estate they had found at the Ministry. The estate had gone through extensive renovations a few years ago. The Ministry of magic like any bureaucracy required the owner to get building permits. The Knott's had to submit plans to the ministry in order to get those permits.

"Ok, so let's assume she is on the second floor," He looked at Harry.

"We'll need to get in fast. I think a full breach at both the front and back doors at the same time. We can take out the guards at the front door with the sleeping spell that George taught us."

Harry nodded his agreement with Ron and started issuing instructions to his team over his radio. Ron waited as he issued the instructions. Now they just needed to wait on the warrants.

About five minutes later, they heard the pop of someone apparating behind them. Both Ron and Harry turned towards the sound; they lowered their wands as Hermione approached them.

She looked at the two of them, noticing their wands.

"My aren't we jumpy," She smiled as she said this.

She looked at the estate.

"Any signs of Katrina Walker?" She asked.

Both Ron and Harry shook their heads,

Hermione sighed, and vanished one of the parchments she was carrying, and looked at Harry.

"All I can give you right now is a search warrant for the Knott estate."

"Please tell me that it is at least a no knock warrant." Ron hissed.

Over the last year Kingsley had passed quite a few reforms in the criminal justice system for the ministry. The reforms implemented on the aurors and Wizengamot criminal courts many of the same rules that the aurors and police in the United States had to follow.

With a standard search Warrant they would be required to announce themselves before entering the estate. This would give the men inside enough time possibly kill their hostage or worse yet set up a standoff that neither Ron nor Harry wanted. With a no knock warrant they would be able to breech the estate without announcing themselves.

Hermione gave Ron an angry look before she answered.

"Ronald, I am not new to this." She handed the warrant to Harry, "of course it's a no knock warrant." She started to take out her wand.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked at Harry, "Getting ready."

Harry looked at Ron, then back and Hermione.

"Hermione, you cannot go in with us."

"Why not?" Hermione asked hotly, "You know I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," Harry answered coolly, "But this is a precision breech, my team has trained together."

Hermione looked at Ron, and continued.

"What about Ron?" She knew the answer before she asked it. She knew that Ron trained with Harry's team at least twice a month. In his role as an investigator it would be necessary from time to time for him the accompany Harry's team.

"You know very well that Ron has trained with my team." Harry answered,

Ron took Hermione by the hand and pulled her back. "Moine, why don't you wait for us back at the ministry? We will need you if we make any arrest ok."

Hermione nodded. She knew she was pushing things wanting to go on the raid with them. She also knew that was not her role now. She gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered "Be careful.", and dissaparated.

***

"What was it about my instructions that were not clear?" Eric Bledsoe shouted angrily at the six men standing in the study.

David Blaine glared back at Bledsoe, fuming. They had just successfully retrieved Katrina Walker. In addition he had gotten a chance for some payback from that bitch Ginny Weasley, and he was treating them like out of control children. He was not going to take this lying down.

"We got your bitch, didn't we?" He spat at Bledsoe.

Bledsoe turned and looked at Blaine, his eyes blazing.

"Yes, you did get Ms. Walker." Bledsoe could not believe what a fool Blaine was, "However the minute you used an unforgiveable."

"Her mudblood fiancé got in the way." Blaine shot back.

Bledsoe slapped Blaine hard across the face,

"There were other ways you could have used to get him out of the way you idiot…"

Before Bledsoe could finish the fireplace came to life and Draco Malfoy's face appeared.

"Bledsoe!" Malfoy sounded angry "Granger has just gotten a search warrant for the Knott estate."

Bledsoe was not surprised. The minute the retrieval turned violent, it would be handled by the ministry as a kidnapping. He was surprised at how fast the Auror department was handling this.

"Granger," he said to Malfoy.

"Granger, the minute you idiots used unforgivables, and nearly killed Ginny Weasley the case was turned over to Potters Rapid Response Team."

Bledsoe voice went deathly calm as he asked,

"What do you mean nearly killed Ginny Weasley?"

"One the brilliant wizards you sent to the ministry stabbed her with a Sword spell. From what I have heard she is at St. Mungo's with a collapsed lung in critical condition."

Bledsoe just glared at Blaine, he knew that Ginny Weasley and he had history. He did not get the chance to speak before Malfoy continued.

"I was able to quash the arrest warrant she applied for due to lack of evidence linking the Knott's to the attack, however the search warrant was a different matter since your team had to name the Knott family."

Bledsoe nodded to Draco, and turned to everyone in the room.

"When the Aurors arrive, do not resist, do what they say."

He turned to Draco, "I suspect that when they find Katrina Walker here we will be arrested, Find a way to get the criminal charges dismissed."

"I can get rid of the Kidnapping charges, but the use of unforgiveable and attempted murder will be more difficult."

As Draco finished Bledsoe heard two explosions, one from the front door, and the other from the back. Potter and his Aurors had arrived.

***

Harry smiled as the two guards at the front door dropped to the ground, sound asleep. He had to admit that George was a genius when it came to inventing new products and spells. He whispered into his mic.

"Go Go Go"

He then started running to the front door with his teammate and Ron on either side of him. As he closed in on the door he fired a blasting hex at the door, destroying the door. He then immediately took his position on the right side of the door, his teammate the left and Ron ducked down by the stairs leading to the door. Ron cast the flash bang charm into the front hall. Harry looked into the hallway, exposing very little of himself, saw the hall was empty and shouted "Clear."

He then entered the hall shouting.

"Auror's. Search warrant."

His partner shouted the same as he entered; he also heard his rear entry team shouting the same. Harry noticed a set of double doors off the to the right. He again went to the right side of the Ron and his teammate took the same positions they had when they came through the front door. This time, however they did not blast the doors.

Harry pounded on the door, and shouted.

"Search warrant. Open the door or we will force it open!"

As the door opened he heard the footsteps of his the four additional Auror's from the backup team arrived and took their positions. Harry once again had to admire Ron's thinking. Ron had worked on a breech strategy with Harry for several months. Ron broke the groups into two. The first was a two man breech team that would be responsible for going through any doors, and clearing the rooms. Once the breech team made entry a four man backup team would join the breach team. Each entry team consisted of six Auror's.

The door opened.

Harry looked in and saw nine men in what appeared to be a study. Harry immediately spoke to his team over his radio, "I got nine in hear. On three."

He once again counted to three, and then he and his team entered the room wands out.

"Get down on the floor!" He commanded the nine men in the room.

One of the younger men looked a Harry defiantly and Harry quickly shoved him down to the floor, he saw the rest of his team doing the same with the others. Harry quickly took the young man's wand, and bound his hands behind his back with a binding spell. Once his suspect was bound he again stated "Clear"

Harry heard over his radio from his search team. "We got her."

Ron entered the room, looking at the nine men before them he stated.

"Gentleman, You are all bound for Kidnapping, Use of an Unforgiveable, Battery, and attempted murder."

Harry grinned at Ron and said.

"So, how does it feel to get out of the office?"

Authors note:

Well hope you liked this one. I have another contest for you, Whare did Harry's line "So, How does if feel to get out of the office?" Come from. It is a line I borrowed simply because the scene at the end of this chapter and the scene I borrowed it from are almost the same....

I love reviews in the morning...

They mean I have...Readers.

So review


	7. The Arraignment

Authors Note: First of all I would like to congratulate Blackhawk 13 who correctly identified whom I am basing the Emily Character off of. He correctly guessed...Now you did not think I would just tell you did you. Also Crystal you are right the line "So how does if feel, getting out of the office" is from the movie LA Confidential. If you have not seen it is a very good movie.

I am updating a little early because I wanted to get this next chapter out. What happens in this chapter will be a very important part of this story, and I wanted to get it posted. I have been asked by a few reviewers to post faster. I will continue to post once a week. This is something I will be able to do because I have 12 chapters completed already. I have to admit I do get a sadistic thrill reading your reviews, knowing what is coming. So here you go, the next chapter of Redemption. This is called the arraignment.

6

The Arraignment

For someone at the young age of nineteen Ginny spent way too much time in hospitals. Ginny winced in pain as Luna examined her wounded chest. She had cast healing spells at the restaurant to stop her bleeding, and was checking to see how the wound was healing.

"That seems to be healing fine." Luna stated, "However I am going to want to keep you overnight to make sure your lung continues to heal."

Ginny groaned.

"If you could just avoid getting hit by sharp objects…" Luna chastised.

"I was not hit by a sharp object, it was spell…"

"Designed to simulate a sharp object," Luna interrupted before Ginny could say anything else, "What were you thinking Ginny, taking on six men at once?"

Ginny just shrugged her shoulders; she winced at the sharp pain in her chest the action caused. "They used an unforgivable on my best friend's fiancé. I wasn't thinking of anything except stopping his pain."

Luna just nodded. She knew, just as Ginny did, how painful the cruciatus curse could be. Luna stood up, "Well I have to check on some other patients, and I will stop in after my shift is over to see how you are doing."

Ginny nodded as she left the room. Ginny was happy the hospital had sent her family home. She loved her family, but it was hard to rest with them constantly hovering over you. She had seen Ron briefly, and he told her they were planning a rescue mission for her friend Katrina, and she was desperate for any news on how the mission went. Ron had promised her he would stop by with news once the mission was completed.

Ginny's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Come In." She answered as she looked up expecting to see Ron.

She felt her heart jump to her throat, as Harry Potter entered her room. Oh this day just gets better and better she thought to herself.

"Hey Ginny." He said as he walked into her room. He sounded uncomfortable.

Why wouldn't he be? The last time they had seen each other she was a royal bitch to the woman he had bought to the Ministers Ball. Before that, her date had all but told him she blamed him for all the things that had happened to the Weasley family during the second war.

She gave Harry her best fake smile.

"So what brings the great Harry Potter to my humble hospital room?" She asked, trying not to sound bitter and failing miserably.

Harry interrupted her before she could finish.

He sounded hurt as he stated. "I am here about earlier this evening."

"So then why are you here instead of Ron?" she glared at him as she asked.

"Hermione said to have Ron, Your brother do this would be a conflict of interest."

"So she thought hey let's send her ex fiancé?" Again she sounded bitter and angry.

Harry could not fight back has anger and responded bitterly

"Let's not forget why I am your ex fiancé." Harry hissed angrily "I was not the one that ended things, you were."

Harry just looked at her for a minute; Ginny could see that she was once again hurting him. She had no idea why she was so bitter when it came to Harry. After all he was right; she was the one who had ended their relationship not Harry. The more she thought about it, she was bitter because he was supposed to fight for her. To make her want to stay with him, not just walk away.

But could she really blame him for walking away. First she let her brother, his best friend, believe he had broken her heart. This had lead to a huge rift between Ron and Harry that had lasted for almost a half a year. She knew that Harry and Ron had finally patched things up at his wedding. However Harry still would not come to the burrow, the only home he had ever known since Hogwarts. She knew this was all because she had not told him that her date at Ron's wedding was wrong, and she did not blame Harry for everything that had happened to her family. She had always hoped that she would have a chance to patch things up with Harry, and maybe even start seeing him again. However that hope was dashed when she saw him with that girl Emily at the Ministers ball.

Ginny knew she had not given Harry a reason to reason to fight for her. She had no right to expect him to wait for her to come to her senses and realize that he was the only one she had ever loved. She had given him no reason to expect anything would change. She had no right to be either angry that Harry had moved on, but that did not change the fact that she was. He was supposed to wait for her, not move on.

"Let's not forget, you left me for over a year." She spat back.

"That was different and you know it!" Harry shot back. "I was protecting you and you…

"And you did such a fine job too." Ginny interrupted him, "Me and my family still paid, let's just hope Emily and her family never has to find out the price of being friends with The Chosen One."

"I told Hermione this was a bad idea." Harry said as he backed out of her room. "I will have someone else come to do this."

"Harry, wait!" Ginny cried before he could leave.

Harry stopped at her door.

She looked at him. "Please don't go" She pleaded.

Harry turned and looked at his ex fiancé.

"Why should I stay, It is clear you blame me for everything that happened during the war Ginny." Harry answered "Your right, people that are close to me pay a high price."

Seeing the look in Harry's eyes it dawned on Ginny why Harry had cut himself off from all of the Weasley's except Ron. If she blamed him for what happened during the war, then the rest of the Weasley's must blame him as well. She also suddenly realized that the only real friends Harry had were Ron and Hermione. He would not let anyone else in. Letting this new girl Emily in was a huge step for Harry. She also believed that Harry would now do what Harry always did, he would push her away. All because of the things she just said.

She really did not believe it was Harry's fault. She said it because she wanted to hurt Harry, and she knew this would hurt him. She had to do something, or Harry would never have a chance to be happy, whether it was with Emily, or someone else. If he believed people would be hurt by being with him, then he would not let anyone in. She had to put an end to whatever this was between her and Harry.

"Harry, I didn't mean that, I'm sorry." She whispered.

Harry didn't leave, but he asked her one of the hardest questions she ever had to answer.

"Ginny, what did I do to make you hate me so much?"

Ginny lied their on her bed. She knew why she was so angry with him; he was willingly to sacrifice himself to defeat Voldemort. He was willing to leave her, and he left her without saying goodbye

"You left me behind." She answered softly,

Harry looked at her confused.

"What do you mean? I came back, I never left you."

"Harry you let yourself be killed." She answered, "You went off to die and didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye." She felt tears on her cheeks as she spoke.

"Ginny I came back, I didn't die." He answered

"Did you know you wouldn't be killed when you let Voldemort cast that killing curse on you?" She asked feeling herself getting angry again.

She knew the answer before Harry shook his head. She had talked to Neville just before Harry interviewed her about Benedict's attack. Neville told her how Harry had informed him what he needed to do to finish Voldemort. Harry had no idea he would survive Voldemort's killing curse, he had every intention of dying, and leaving her behind,

"Ginny, it had to be that way, or the Hallows would have never worked, I had to be willing to sacrifice myself, so that Voldemort could be defeated. I was a Horcrux."

Harry had never shared that with anyone other than Ron and Hermione,

Ginny gasped. It was true, he had no choice. He had to be killed, and he did not even think twice about letting himself be killed. What kind of person does that? What kind of person punishes someone for doing that? That is what she was doing; she was punishing Harry for choosing to save the wizarding world over her. What kind of person did that make her? I have to stop punishing him, she thought to herself.

"Harry, you need to know I don't blame you for all that happened during the war." She tried to fight back the tears as she said that.

"Then why did you let Blaine say those things, why did you just say you did?" Harry asked.

It was a simple question. But the answer was far from simple for Ginny. However, she knew she had to answer his question if they ever were going to be friends again. The one thing she was certain of is she wanted Harry as a friend, so over the next couple of hours she told him everything. Her anger over his leaving for the hunt, her anger about his not taking her side against her mother in the room of requirement. Her anguish at seeing him dead and leaving her again. This was something they had never dealt with after they had gotten together, so the feeling just built up. They finally came to a head when he forced her to answer questions about what Benedict had done to her. It felt good to let those feelings out.

When they finished talking, she reminded Harry that Hermione had sent him to see her and asked why. Harry let her know that they had successfully rescued Katrina, and needed her to look at the pictures of those they had captured at the Knott estate. Hermione needed to know who was involved in the attack at White Fence Farm.

She stared at the third photo he handed her the photo of David Blaine, her date from Hermione's wedding. "What the hell does Blaine have to do with this?" she asked.

***

The last twelve hours had been extremely hectic for Hermione. She had to wait for her husband and best friend to return from executing the search warrant at the Knott estate. When they did return she was surprised to find that they had taken nine men into custody and also rescued Katrina walker.

She then spent about a half hour reviewing watching as Ron interviewed Katrina Walker about the events from earlier that evening. Once Ron completed his interview she sat with him as he completed his reports, and request for charges to be brought against the nine men. Once he finished his reports, and handed them to her, so she could review them and approve the charges.

Hermione was surprised at how well Ron had put his request for charges together. For each of the charges he requested he submitted a summary of the actions taken by the men being charged, and how the charges he was requested were supported. After reviewing his request she looked at him.

"Well," She looked at Ron and Harry

Harry had accompanied Ron to her office. Harry had submitted his own reports, including Ginny's identification of the ones involved at the restaurant, however, Ron, being the lead investigator on the case was responsible for requesting the charges against the offenders.

"I can approve the charges of Kidnapping, aggravated Battery, Use of the unforgiveable on the six the six men that actually were at the restaurant."

She could see that Ron was agitated, and continued before he said anything.

"I can prove the kidnapping and aggravated battery as well as the unforgiveable with the eyewitnesses from the attack at the restaurant on the six that were there. I do not think we can charge the other three."

Ron just stared at her for a few seconds. Then stated

"Hermione, we found Katrina Walker at the Knott estate. We can make the Kidnapping charge by her being there."

Hermione shook her head.

"We do not need to show they were at the restaurant, since they let the others bring Ms. Walker they would be accessories after the fact, and subject to all the charges against the other six." Ron explained.

Hermione thought about what Ron had said. To her surprise he was right. The minute that Katrina Walker was bought into the Knott house anyone there became accessories after the fact and in the eyes of the law they were just as guilty as those that participated in the attack and could be charged along with those involved in the actual attack.

"Ron, that's brilliant!" She beamed.

Ron just grinned at her and said "Always the tone of surprise."

She gave him a quick kiss.

Over the next several hours Hermione worked on preparing the charges to be filed against the men captured at the Knott Estate. She also prepared the briefs supporting the charges against those that were at the estate but that did not take part in the actual kidnapping. After completing her paperwork and research she returned home to get some sleep before the arraignment in the morning.

***

Hermione Granger was not the only one working late into the night preparing the arraignment the following morning. Draco Malfoy was in the family library pouring through legal references. He had thought he set up a solid case for Katrina Walker to be taken. All the idiots had to do was take her without hurting anyone, or using Unforgivables. Now he was not sure he would be able to do anything about the charges that had been filed against his clients. Worse, he had not expected Granger to be the one handling this case.

He needed a way to make it so the events at the restaurant never happened.

Draco's face broke into a smile.

That was it. If the events at the restaurant never happened, or could be justified he could get all the charges dropped.

Draco stood up and headed to the bookshelf with his law books. He had a lot of research to do before tomorrow's arraignment.

***

"Case number MM-CR1999012, the ministry versus David Blaine, Theodore Knott, Thomas Knott" A young clerk read the names of them men appearing for this case.

Hermione watched as the clerk read of the names of those she was charging with the kidnapping of Katrina walker. When the clerk finished reading the names she was asked to present her charges by the senior member of the three Wizengamot members that were presiding over the arraignment.

She handed her briefs to the clerk before speaking.

"Hermione Weasley, for the ministry. We are charging these men with Kidnapping, Aggravated Battery, and Use of unforgiveable and 13 counts of battery."

Hermione went on to explain how six of the nine men in court had stormed into a dinner party being thrown by the Walker family and demanded that Katrina Walker accompany them and when her fiancé resisted the hit him with the Cruciatus curse. She then explained how Ginny Weasley was forced to defend her friends against the six men, leading to one of the men attempting to kill her using a phantom sword spell. She explained she had more than sufficient evidence to support a conviction.

When she was finished she was surprised when she heard Draco Malfoy's voice from the gallery.

"Draco Malfoy for the defense."

The Chief Warlock as the clerk entered that Malfoy's appearance for the defense. He then asked.

"Would you like to enter a plea?"

Draco whispered for a few minutes with Eric Bledsoe, he then stood up and faced the judge.

"At this time the defense would ask that all charges against my clients be dismissed."

As soon as Draco finished, there were shouts of outrage from the gallery. Hermione just stared at Malfoy. What was he playing at? He had no grounds to ask for a dismissal. She had submitted more the enough evidence to support her case.

Once the crowd was calmed down Hermione addressed Draco.

"I would like to know on what grounds the defense is basing his request for dismissal. I have presented sufficient evidence to support the charges." She sounded confident as she spoke. Whatever Malfoy's game was, there was no way her case could simply be dismissed. She had more than enough evidence.

Draco smirked at her as he answered.

"I am requesting dismissal because my clients have not committed a criminal act."

He handed Hermione several documents, then handed the same documents to the court clerk.

"I am submitting copies of a Judgment for Specific Performance against the Walker family for a Marriage contract entered by the two families for the marriage of Katrina Walker to Theodore Knott. In addition I am submitting a copy of a Remedy of Possession entered by the Wizengamot allowing the Knott family to take possession of Ms. Walker to complete the marriage contract."

Hermione reviewed the documents that Malfoy just handed her, and they were in order. She still was not sure where Draco was going with this. She may not be able to support the charges against the ones that had not gone to the restaurant, but the six that had gone to the restaurant were still guilty of all the charges.

"Regardless of these judgments" Hermione stated calmly, "That does not change the fact that these men still committed the acts listed on the criminal complaint."

"The defense is not denying that these men did the things listed in the criminal complaint." Draco stated smugly.

"So then you are entering a plea of guilty." Hermione answered.

"Ms. Granger, my clients are not guilty of any criminal acts." Draco stated as he handed her and the clerk another set of documents.

"The law states that my client has the right, by virtue of the order of possession to secure his property. It also states that they have the right to defend themselves by any means necessary should anyone interfere with that right."

Hermione looked at Draco; she was shocked by what she was hearing. He was arguing that Katrina Walker was in fact the property of the Knott family and since she was the property of the Knott family they had to right to do whatever they had to secure their property.

"Mr. Malfoy seems to forget," she answered "That Ms. Walker is a person, and is no one's property."

Hermione wondered why Draco looked so pleased as she finished her statement. He had to know that Ms. Walker could not be treated as property.

"I do beg to differ with Mrs. Weasley." He handed Hermione a copy of the Marriage Contract between the Knott family and the Walkers.

"The Marriage contract clearly states that Ms. Walker is the possession of the Knott family and she is to be turned over to the Knott family for marriage when she reaches the age of consent. Ms. Walker is over the age of consent, and now the property of the Knott family."

Hermione stared at Draco, shocked. She could not believe he was making this ludicrous argument.

She looked up to the members of the Wizengamot that were judging the case, and they were talking amongst themselves.

"Esteemed members of the Wizengamot." She addressed them, her voice calmer than she felt, "Please tell me you are not considering this argument?"

The judge looked at Hermione, shaking his head in shock.

"Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy has case law to support his argument. All charges against the accused are dismissed with prejudice."

Hermione just stared at the members of the Wizengamot in disbelief as she sat down at her table.

"Thank you your honors." Draco stated. He then looked at Hermione and continued. "In accordance to the judgments I have presented to you, I request that the ministry return Ms. Walker to the Knott family."

Hermione shot out of her seat.

"You cannot be serious Draco," She pointed to Katrina Walker in the gallery, "Ms Walker is engaged to be married to Arnold Kaplin, and has no interest in marrying Theodore Knott. She has made it clear what she wants."

"Mrs. Weasley," the judge answered her, "I am sorry but Mr. Malfoy has presented the court with a judgment in favor of the Knott family."

Thomas Nott nodded to the men that had taken Ms. Walker earlier; they stood up and started to walk towards Katrina, who was backing away from them pleading with the judge.

Before the judge could answer Katrina, Harry and Ron both jumped out of their seats, shouting the court had no right to order Ms. Walker to go with the Knott family, and they would not allow this to happen.

The judge looked down at Hermione.

"Mrs. Weasley, you need to get control your husband and Mr. Potter or I will have you arrested for interfering with the court. I order you to turn Ms. Walker over to the custody of the Knott family."

Hermione knew she was beaten. She looked at Harry and Ron and motioned for them to sit down. Ron glared at her angrily but he sat backed down. Katrina Walker was sobbing, pleading for Hermione to help her as she was lead out of the court room.


	8. Habeas Corpus

Authors Notes: First off I want to thank those of you that have taken the time to read and review this story. I also want to address some request that I Publish more than once a week. I am taking a bit more time with this story, even thought have the next six chapters already written, I want to make sure I can continue to post once a week until the story is finished. By posting this way you will get your one chapter a week, even if I might suffer some writers block. Luckily that has not happened however the last two chapters have taken about a week and a half to two weeks to write. This is mainly because I am striving to make this a better story than The Order of the Dragon which even though I think it is a good story, at times it did suffer with my being in a hurry,. I do not want to make that mistake with this story. So when needed, I will take the time to do a bit of research. That was something that I really had to do for this chapter, and the last one as well. I hope the additional research I do helps with the overall quality of this story. So Without further comment. This is it, Her it comes,...Chapter 7

7

Habeas Corpus

"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked the three other's sitting at the table with him.

Emily had never seen her boyfriend and his two friends look so…beaten. That was the best way to describe how Harry, Ron and his wife Hermione looked. They all looked distraught over what had just happened in court this morning, but they had not yet told her what happened.

"I don't know." Hermione shook her head as she answered.

She looked at Ron, sadly.

"Did you hear her screaming as she was taken out of the court room?" Hermione asked.

Emily could see that she was trying not to start crying. What the hell happened? She wondered. Harry had asked her to meet the three of them at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. He told her they would be celebrating the successful conclusion of a case they had been working on.

The minute Emily saw the three of the walk into the inn; she knew things had not gone well for the trio this morning. They just sat down and ordered three firewhiskeys. This was another sign that something had gone wrong that morning. As long as she knew these three, they very rarely drank, and they never drank during the day.

The one thing that she did know was that there were no women involved in the case when Harry told her about what was going on last night. Harry had returned to his Condo after eleven. After leaving St. Mungos waited for Harry at his flat. Harry was in a very good mood when he returned home last night. He told her they had successfully rescued a kidnapping victim and had caught all the people that were involved. He had told her they would be arraigned in the morning, and sent to Azkaban to await trial.

She had to remind Harry that, even though she knew of his world, he would need to explain some things to her. So Harry explained how the Wizarding courts worked, and that Azkaban was the wizarding prison. Once he finished explaining he told her he wanted to celebrate his success with her.

They had stayed up very late, and made love for the first time last night. When they had met Ron and Hermione for breakfast they were all in a very good mood. Talking about the fact that everything that had happened the night before was the whole reason they did what they did.

Emily could not believe things could have gone so wrong, that the three of them would be so depressed now. She needed to know what happened, but did not want to upset Hermione anymore than she was already. She seemed to be taking whatever happened much harder than the other two; Emily took Harry's hand and squeezed it to get his attention. He looked at her; she motioned for him to come with her.

Once they were at the bar, under the guise of getting more drinks she asked.

"Harry, please tell me what happened?"

Harry hesitated, before answering. "Emily,"

She knew he was going to tell her about not understanding everything in the Wizarding world, her being a muggle and all.

She stopped him before he could say anything.

"Harry, like it or not, I am a part of your world." She put her hand on his cheek, "I cannot help you, or Ron and Hermione if you don't let me in."

Harry knew Emily was right. One of the things that Ginny had told him when they were talking about what happened with them was Harry not letting her in. Not telling her the things that he was going through, and how she had come to, at times, resent the whole Golden Trio thing. So rather than shut Emily out, he told her everything that had happened this morning.

Emily looked over to the table; she could see that Ron was doing his best to console his distraught wife. She and Harry sat back down with Ron and Hermione.

***

It broke Ron's heart to see his wife so upset. He knew that she was blindsided in court this morning, but she did not see things that way. Ron knew she would see what happened in court this morning as a failure.

Ron took his wife's hand, and said gently. "Moine, there is no way you could have foreseen what happened this morning," He said gently.

He could see the doubt in her eyes as she looked at him, "It's my job to anticipate how the defense will argue their case." She answered, "I must have missed something last night." She shook her head as she took another sip of her firewhiskey.

Enough was enough. "Bullocks." He shouted.

Hermione jumped as he shouted at her.

"The marriage laws Draco used in court today have not been enforced for almost thirty years. How would you have known he would use those laws to justify taking Katrina Walker and what was done at the restaurant?"

Hermione just glared at Ron as he continued.

"The question Hermione is what are you going to do about it?"

Hermione did not say anything as Ron continued.

"Those Marriage Laws are just as outdated and unfair as the werewolf laws you just changed." Ron took her hand as he continued "The woman I married and fell in love with would find a way to fight those laws. Not sit here drowning her sorrows in a glass of firewhiskey."

Hermione looked at Ron. He was right, she should fight the laws. She would have to get the judgments against the Walker family vacated. The problem was how. Her other problem was even more basic than that.

"Ron, I understand what you are trying to do here." She said sadly, "The problem is even if I had a case to vacate the judgment for the Walker family; I have no standing to do so. I don't have a client." She stated miserably.

Ron sighed, he knew she was right. She had no client. Suddenly Ron had a thought.

"Actually 'Moine I think you may be wrong about that."

"What are you on about Ron?" Harry asked; he had been following Ron's conversation with Hermione. He appreciated that Ron was trying to break his wife out of her depressed state, but he did not agree with how he was going about it. She had been beaten pretty badly this morning, and he did not think Hermione could take another devastating defeat like this mornings.

Ron looked at Harry.

"If I remember correctly, Katrina Walker was begging for Hermione to help her as she was being taken out of the court room. So…"

Hermione jumped out of her chair and kissed Ron soundly on the lips before he could finish his explanation. She looked at Harry, and Emily, fire in her eyes as she spoke.

"My client is Katrina walker, and it is a matter of record that she asked me for help." She reached for her purse "I have to go. Lots of research to do."

Hermione quickly left the Leaky Cauldron.

***

Hermione threw down the book she had been reading in frustration. She had left the Leaky cauldron and headed right for the ministry law library. She had been going through all the case law she could find on wizarding marriage law, and so far had found no way to overturn the judgment against the walkers.

Even thought the laws were outdated, they were still on the books and enforceable. To her surprise, Malfoy had done his homework, and everything he presented supported the judgments.

She once again picked up the Judgment that had been entered against the walker family and began to review the counts in the judgment again. She was hoping to find some flaw in the arguments Draco had presented.

The main problem is the Walkers had never responded to the summons issued by the Knott family to defend against the marital contract. Hermione had no idea how she would have fought against the marriage contract. She continued to review the judgment when something caught her eye.

She did a double take as she looked at the Wizengamot member whom had signed the judgment.

"No way!" She gasped out loud. That had to be a mistake.

She wiped her eyes in exhaustion, and then looked again. The signature was the same. She then looked at the documentation for the Remedy of Possession, and the same signature was there.

Thomas Knott.

The head of the Knott family.

Knott had presided over a case involving his own family.

A case that he was personally involved with.

Hermione quickly summoned some more tomes, and spent about another hour researching. When she completed reading the relevant case law, she took grabbed a piece of parchment and began to write.

***

Draco Malfoy was awakened by a tapping on his window. He looked to his window to see a ministry Owl at his window. Draco carefully got out of bed, not wanting to wake up the witch sleeping beside him. He quickly went to the window and opened it.

The owl held out it's leg and he took the envelope. The owl did not leave when he took the letter. He noticed another paper with the letter. It required his signature, as proof he had received the letter. He signed the parchment, and returned it to the owl, who immediately took off.

Draco opened the letter and began to read it.

His face began to get red with anger as he read the document.

"That Bitch!" He shouted, waking up his companion.

She looked at him, shocked at his outburst.

"Who are you talking about?" She asked sleepily.

"Go back to sleep Astoria."

She just looked at him, coldly.

He knew he would have to answer his fiancé's question, or he would never hear the end of it.

"Hermione Granger." He spat, as he started to get dressed. "I have to go. I'll see you tonight."

Draco dressed quickly. He did not have a lot of time. The summons said he had to be at the ministry by 11:00, he needed to see Knott before then.

***

The court room was jammed with people as Draco walked up to Hermione; he tried to hide his anger as he spoke.

"Just what the hell are you playing at Granger?"

Hermione looked at him coolly.

"I think the motion speaks for itself" she answered.

Before Draco could answer the tribunal entered the room and called the room to order.

The Chief Warlock looked at Hermione and stated.

"Mrs. Weasley, You may proceed."

Hermione spoke confidently.

"Thank you chief Warlock, I come before you today regarding the Order of specific performance and the Remedy of possession entered against the Walker family by the Wizengamot."

The chief Warlock looked Hermione and spoke as if addressing a petulant school child.

"Mrs. Weasley it is my understanding that that case has already been settled."

"That is true Sir." Hermione answered, "However in reviewing the judgment I have found some improprieties."

Draco stood up. He knew that Hermione would get tired of this argument being presented for every case she bought before the Wizengamot; however, it was her own fault. Once again she was arguing something before the Wizengamot that she had no standing to argue. Draco would just let the Chief Warlock know and this would be over, he thought to himself.

"Once again Chief Warlock," Draco addressed the Chief Warlock, putting on his best exasperated voice. "Ms. Granger is wasting this esteemed bodies time, with a case she has no legal standing to argue. Miss Granger does not have a client." He paused and looked at Hermione with contempt, "I would also ask the Wizengamot to remind Ms. Granger to please stop wasting this esteemed bodies time with these frivolous actions."

Hermione wondered when they would learn. She had made the mistake of arguing a bill with no client, now every time she would argue she had to defend her being involved with the case. She also thought Draco should know better, after all he was in the court room when Katrina had begged her for help.

"Chief Warlock, I have no Idea why Mr. Malfoy is saying I have no client. I have submitted clear documentation that I am hear representing Katrina Walker in this matter." She answered.

Draco looked at her dismayed.

"Since you have never met Ms. Walker," He answered "Just tell me exactly when it was she retained your services?"

Draco really wanted to hear how Granger was going to explain this one. He had checked with the Knott's when he had received his summons, and Katrina had never met with the bitch, so there was no way she could have retained her as her council.

Hermione just smirked at Draco, she then handed him several affidavits to the court clerk, and copies to him.

"These are transcripts from yesterdays court action," Hermione explained to the court, "The transcripts clearly show Ms. Walker asking for my help, thus making her my client."

The Chief Warlock looked at the transcripts, and said to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, it does appear that Mrs. Weasley represents Ms. Walker."

Draco glared at the Chief Warlock.

Hermione then handed several more documents to Draco and the clerk.

"Chief Warlock, This is a motion to Vacate the judgment entered on behalf of the Knott family for Specific performance, as well as a motion to Vacate the Remedy of possession for Ms. Walker."

Draco shot out of his chair.

"Chief Warlock, Ms. Granger has no grounds to vacate these judgments. They have been argued before the Wizengamot and"

Hermione interrupted Draco before he could say anymore.

"They were argued before Thomas Knott, is that correct Mr. Malfoy?"

It now dawned on Draco where Hermione was going. He never expected these judgments to be challenged. She wasn't challenging the legality of the judgment, but the manner in which they were obtained. He knew he was going to lose this round, but he would simply represent his case to another member of the Wizengamot that was sympathetic to his cause.

"Yes," He answered

"Mr. Malfoy, can you tell me what Thomas Knott's relationship to the Knott family is?" Hermione asked before he could get his thoughts together.

"He is the Patriarch of the Knott Family." Draco whispered his answer

Hermione addressed the chief Wizengamot.

"Sir, Since Mr. Knott's family is involved in this case; it would be a conflict of interest for him to enter a judgment on this matter. Since there was a conflict of interest Katrina Walker was denied a fair trial. It is on these grounds I ask that these judgments be vacated."

The Chief Warlock looked at Hermione, shocked, then at Draco.

"Agreed Mrs. Weasley, the judgments are Vacated."

Hermione then pulled another document from her briefcase.

Draco groaned, what now?

Hermione handed the document to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy this is a Writ of Habeas Corpus, demanding the immediate release of Katrina Walker."

Draco examined the document and looked up at the Chief Warlock. He did not argue with Hermione, he knew he had no choice but have her released.

She then handed him another document.

"This is a summons for you and your client, challenging the validity of the Marriage Contract between the Knott and Walker Family. I will be seeking to have the contract declared null and void Mr. Malfoy."

Draco looked at her, clearly shocked. He had not anticipated that she would go after the marriage contract. This is getting out of hand, he thought to himself.

Hermione just simply turned and walked out of the courtroom, with a triumphant smile.


	9. Two Woman

Ramblings:

First I want to thank all of those that have taken the time to review my hard work and to those that have read but not submitted a review yet, thank you for reading my story, I would however love to know what you think of this story.

So here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

8.

Two Woman

"And cut."

Emily sighed, as the director ended the scene, but she could tell he still was not completely happy with how the scene had played out. She sighed as she walked from the set to her chair. What the hell did he want? She thought to herself as she reached for a bottle of water.

"So where are you at today?" David Rabbs asked as he sat next to her.

Emily pretended like she didn't hear him.

Randall Grims sat on the other side of her spoke to David.

"I don't think she heard you?"

Emily started to smile. She had known these two for just over seven years now. They were like her older brothers, and best friends wrapped into one. She knew she was not on the top of her game today, but with a good reason. She had been worried about what was going to happen with Hermione in court this morning. She however could not tell David or Randall that.

Randall offered his own explanation as to what was distracting her.

"I think it might a bloke."

"Randall, A bloke?" David answered grinning, "Our Emily?"

Emily just looked at her two best friends. She could not keep from smiling.

David pounced.

"Randall, I think you may be right. Our Emily has grown up, she has a boyfriend."

Randall looked at Emily.

"Emily, you have to tell us about him, more importantly, when are we going to get to meet him?"

Emily had never thought about letting Harry meet her friends. Actually she never had introduced any of the other guys she had gone out with to David or Randall. That was because those relationships never got to be serious. She could not say that her relationship with Harry was not serious, not after the other night.

"You two promise to be nice to Harry?" she asked.

Both David and Randall put on their best put out expressions.

"David, when have we ever been mean to any of Emily's boyfriends?" He asked doing his best I'm hurt voice.

"Randall, we have never been mean to any of her boyfriends." David answered, smiling as he continued, "But that is because we have never met any of her beaus before."

"Never?" Randall asked as he looked at Emily, "She must be serious then if she is thinking of introducing the poor bloke to her brothers."

Emily laughed at the two of them. She hoped Harry was up for this, however she agreed to let the two of them meet Harry. She would invite Harry to visit the set, that way she would not have to worry about the gossip rags asking a lot of questions.

****

The first thing Ginny did after being released from St. Mungos was to go flying. Ginny was not sure what it was about flying, but whenever she needed to clear her head she always seemed to find her answers while on a broom. To say Ginny Weasley had a lot on her mind on this warm autumn day was a bit of an understatement.

One of her best friends was about to be forced into a marriage she did not want. Her other best friend was feverishly working to find a way to prevent that from happening. On top of all that, throw Harry Potter into the mix, and Ginny had a lot on her mind.

There was not a lot that Ginny could do about Katrina situation. She just had to trust that Hermione would come up with something, so she really did not have much to think on that situations. No. The main reason Ginny needed to get her head on straight was Harry Potter.

They had talked for over an hour last night. She finally told him some of the things that had bothered her about their relationship. Harry listened, and seemed to understand what her issues were. He told her he has wished she had talked to him before things had gone the way they had. Ginny knew now, if she had just talked to Harry, theirs would be a very different story, but she didn't tell Harry what was going on. Instead she pushed him away.

She also learned how much what she had done had hurt Harry. If Ron and Hermione had not pushed so hard he would have completely withdrawn. As it was, he had completely withdrawn from the Weasley family. When she asked him why, he just said he had not wanted to subject her family to anymore than he already had. This made Ginny feel like pond scum. She had, out of anger, let Harry believe she blamed him for all the things that had happened to her family during the war. Harry felt that if she felt that way, then the rest of her family must as well. The only reason he still had Ron and Hermione as friends is they refused to let him withdraw. When he tried, they simply asked him how he could think about walking away from them after all they had been through.

She listened as Harry told her about throwing himself into his work. He had turned out to be a very good leader, and his Rapid Response Team was gaining a brilliant reputation. She learned how Ron and Hermione had pushed him to move on with his life. He steadfastly refused to see anyone new. That was until Emily came along.

Ginny knew one thing; Emily seemed to be good for Harry. She resented the hell out of that. She was the one that was supposed to be good for Harry. She also knew she had no right to begrudge Harry moving on. She had blown it. Now she had to decide what she wanted. Did she just completely walk away from Harry, or did she offer him her friendship.

That was the dilemma that she faced today. That was what drove her to the pitch to fly. The more she thought about it she knew what the answer was. How could you not want to be friends with someone that was willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of others? That was the kind of person you wanted as a friend. So she and Harry would be friends. Knowing this, Ginny knew she wanted to get the chance to meet the woman that pulled Harry up from the gutter.

***

"You won today right?"

Hermione smiled at Emily as she answered.

However before she could answer Emily her husband spoke first.

"She didn't just win," Ron gave her a short kiss on the lips before he continued, "My brilliant wife kicked Malfoy's arse from one end of the court room to the other."

Emily could not help but laugh, it was clear that Ron was very proud of Hermione. He had been beaming at her ever since Emily joined Harry for as he called it a celebration drink. However there was one thing that Emily just did not understand, if Hermione one, why was she going back to court?

"Then why would you have to go back to court?" Emily almost did not finish her question; Ron was looking at her as if she was spoiling everyone's celebrations. "You won Hermione, so it's over right?"

Ron started to answer, but Hermione motioned for him to be quite. Hermione seemed to consider what she was going to day before she answered.

"Emily, your right I did win in court today, however, I won on a technicality. Today's decision did nothing to invalidate the marriage contract. The Knott family could still bring another action to the Wizengamot."

"You're joking." Emily looked at the three others sitting at the table with her.

"I wish I was." Hermione answered and continued to explain. "In the eyes of the law the marriage contract is still valid. So I challenged the contract."

"So you started this round?" Emily asked. She did not understand why Hermione would do that. She had gotten her client released, and the judgment against her and her family vacated. So why would she risk the possibility of her client losing. It seemed that Hermione was taking a very big risk.

"Why would you do that? If you lost then Ms. Walker would be right back in the same boat she was just in, wouldn't she?"

Hermione seemed surprised at Emily's question. However, she smiled as she answered.

"If I don't challenge this contract then the law that allowed all of this to happen would remain on the books. I hope to strike down these marriage laws by winning this case."

"So this isn't really about Katrina Walker then?" Emily answered, looking at Hermione, "It's about changing a law?" Emily couldn't help herself; she was going into full debate mode.

She heard Ron whisper something S.P.E.W to Harry, and the two of them started to laugh, she really didn't understand what was so funny about that. Hermione just gave her husband a look that screamed, "You'll be hearing about that comment later" but she ignored Ron's comment for now and answered Emily.

"This is a law that needs to be changed, it treats witches like property. Under this law a witch can be forced into a marriage she does not want, and she would have no say at all in that decision. This would have been decided for her by her parents shortly after she was born, in most cases. As we just saw with Katrina Walker, the witch would be for all intents and purposes the property of her husband. It's a bad law, and it needs to be changed."

Ron and Harry seemed to settle back. They knew once Hermione got started it was best just to let her have her say, and not to do anything to encourage her. However to their dismay, Emily actually started to debate with Hermione.

"So you want to legislate through the courts?" Emily also seemed to be getting on a roll as well. "If the law needs to be changed isn't that something for your parliament to change?"

"Well I could try and bring legislation before the Wizengamot, however these marriage laws have been around for a very long time, and a lot of the Wizengamot might not want to change these laws." Hermione answered.

"But it's not up to the courts to make new laws." Emily answered

"This isn't a new law," Hermione countered, "This is an existing law that is unjust. Isn't it the job of the courts to decide if a law in just or not?"

"Hermione," Emily countered "You said you wanted to change the law, not prove it is unjust."

"Hey you two!" Ron shouted. The two girls looked at Ron, "We're here to celebrate, not have a debate" Ron looked at Harry, "You would have to find someone that would want to debate my wife."

The two women looked at the young men they were sitting with, and they both started to laugh.

Suddenly Hermione stopped laughing, her eyes got wide and she said, "Oh Merlin."`

The three of them turned to see the girl that had introduced herself as Ron's sister approaching their table with another dark haired girl. Emily noticed Ron start to get up, but Harry grabbed his arm, when he looked at Harry he shook his head.

"Hi everyone!" The red head said brightly as she sat down.

Emily noticed that Ron and Hermione looked a little uncomfortable as the red head sat down. Emily was not sure why they would be uncomfortable, after all this was Ron's little sister. The red head looked at her, and when no one made a move to introduce her she held out her hand.

"Hi, Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister." The red head held out her hand.

Emily shook her hand.

"Emily Watts, though we have met once before." She answered.

Ginny laughed,

"Just pretend were meeting for the first time today, I was having a bad night and I seem to remember being a bit of a bitch."

Emily laughed.

Ginny turned to her friend.

"Everyone, this is Katrina Walker."

Katrina looked a little star struck as Ginny introduced her to everyone at the table and did not seem to be able to talk, until Ginny got around to introducing her to Hermione. Katrina seemed to remember how to talk as she shook Hermione's hand.

Over the next twenty minutes the five young men and woman talked about almost everything. As they talked Ginny could not help but to watch Emily. To Ginny's surprise Emily did not sit back and just watch as the four of them talked, but actually took part in the conversation. This was in contrast to Katrina, who just sat star struck.

What surprised Ginny the most was how Emily seemed to take on debating Hermione, and held her own against her. That was something that no one at the table had ever been able to do. Hermione and Emily were continuing their debate on the best ways to pass laws. Ginny laughed because for the first time, Hermione seemed to have met her match, and judging by her smile, that did not bother her at all. Ginny could not help but to like the blond muggle.

As Hermione and Emily continued debating , Ginny nudged Harry and asked quietly.

"So how long have these two been going at this?"

Harry smiled as he answered.

"Emily started going at Hermione the minute she found out she was trying to change the marriage laws through the courts." He looked at his watch, "They started about ten minutes before you arrived."

Ginny could not help noticing that he looked proud as he continued.

"I don't think anyone has ever challenged Hermione the way Emily has."

Ginny looked at the two woman as they were debating with each other, clearly Hermione was enjoying herself, however no one else at the table was involved in the debate, and that was not fair to the others.

"So Ron." Ginny said loud enough to interrupt Emily and Hermione. "Why don't we talk about something important, like my upcoming match against the cannons?"

Ginny noticed Hermione roll her eyes

However she succeeded in getting the rest of those at the table involved in the conversation as Ron informed her that he would be supporting the cannons in the upcoming match.

Ginny feigned shock at her brother betrayal; this caused both Hermione and Harry to laugh.

"Ginny," Hermione laughed as she spoke "If it came down to choice between me or the Cannons you know my darling husband would choose the Cannons."

Ron looked at his wife, hurt.

"Moine'" he said, "You know I would never choose anything over you."

Hermione just laughed as she took her husband's hand.

"Good thing I would never ask you to choose between me or the cannons."

She looked at Ginny "Unlike your sister."

Emily had been trying to follow what the others were talking about. She knew they must be talking about some kind of sport but she did not know on any team called the cannons. She finally asked.

"Maybe you can help out the muggle at the table and tell me what you are talking about."

Ginny looked at Harry and mouthed something along the lines of you have not told her about quidditch, before she answered.

"We are talking about one of the greatest games in the world…Quidditch."

Emily smiled at Ginny, sweetly and asked.

"What is quidditch?"

Ginny clutched her heart and made a big deal out of the fact that Harry had not told her about the game he loved. Ron and Ginny explained the game of quidditch to her for the next fifteen minutes, surprised again that Harry did not contribute to the conversation at all. This was something that Emily did not miss, but Ginny could tell she was not going to make in issue about it. She could tell however the fact that Harry had never talked about a game his friends said he loved did irritate her a little.

It was after eleven when the group decided it was time to call it a night. As they were saying their goodbyes Katrina shook Hermione's hand and said to her.

"Thank you so much for helping me out. I cannot believe my barrister is one of the Golden Trio!"

Emily looked at Harry as Katrina finished the statement, once again confused. She asked Harry "Harry, what's the golden trio?"

Everyone stopped talking as she finished the question, and an uncomfortable silence fell on the table. Emily just looked at Harry; she was clearly agitated at how her question caused the silence. The problem was no one was answering the question. Ron, Harry and Hermione just looked at each other, but said nothing.

Ginny finally broke the silence. "It's a very exclusive club."

Emily looked at her and asked, "What kind of club?"

Ginny looked to Harry to see if he was going to say anything, but he didn't.

"It was formed during the last war." Ginny started to answer.

Before she could say anything else Hermione mouthed to her "You're not helping."

Ginny looked at her watch and exclaimed.

"Look at the time! I have got to get going, I have practice in the morning."

She quickly left the table, if Harry did not want to tell Emily about his past that was his business, but she knew by Emily's expression, Harry was about to get an earful from his girlfriend.

***


	10. Meet the Weasleys

Authors Note: I want to take the time to thank all of you that have read my little tale. I especially want to thank all of those that have taken the time to leave a review. I am now very glade I have written several chapters ahead as I am now suffering from some writers block. I think I may have worked through it now, however nothing gives a writer motivation like a review...

9

Meet the Weasley's

A troubled Harry Potter was sitting in the stands at the Hollyhead Harpies practice field. He was not however, paying any attention to the practice he had come to watch. Harry was thinking about the events of the last two weeks.

He had hoped Emily would have dropped the whole Golden Trio thing. However over she had asked him several times for details of the club. She asked him how long Hermione had been in the club, he answered he thought since back at school. She then wanted to know what the club was and what they did. He answered that he wasn't exactly sure.

Harry really did not want to tell Emily about all that had happened during the second war. Emily did not know Harry as The Chosen one, the boy who lived or the Hero of the second war or even the boy that had defeated one of the most evil dark wizards in wizarding history. She knew him as just plain Harry, and he liked that.

If he answered her questions about The Golden Trio, that would change. There would be no way to tell her about the Golden Trio without explaining to her why He, Ron and Hermione were referred to as the golden trio. The problem was she kept pushing him for answers.

Harry had thought that Ginny had put the question to end with her answer that it was a club. Harry did not expect her to ask for details on what the club was. Harry knew that Emily was not stupid, he figured the reason she was asking about the club was she suspected it had to do something with Harry's past.

Harry decided that the best way to distract Emily from her questions about his past, would be to satisfy some of her other questions she had asked over the last few months about his family. She knew he was an orphan and that he had not had a pleasant time with the Dursley's. She also knew that Ron and Harry had been close. So he figured he would introduce her to the Weasley's. He was sure that meeting the Weasley's would make Emily forget all about this Golden Trio nonsense.

However there was just one hitch to this idea… Ginny. He and Ginny had just started talking again and he hoped they could be friends. He did not want to hurt Ginny by bringing his girlfriend to meet the rest of her family. So he was here to make sure that Ginny would be ok with Emily meeting the rest of the Weasley's.

"Harry Potter," Harry looked up to see Ginny standing next to him. "Are you lost?" she asked with a smile.

Harry knew the reason she was asking is over the last year he refused to come to any of her games, or practices when invited.

"Not really, I had heard the Harpies had a new hot shot chaser, and I thought I'd stop by and see what all the fuss was about." He smiled at Ginny and motioned for her to sit down.

Ginny sat next to him and gently placed her hand on his arm.

"Harry I would believe you more, had you paid attention to the practice."

Harry laughed. He never was able to get away with anything with Ginny. That was one of the things he liked about being with her. Ginny asked him before he could say anything.

"So what's bothering you Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but he hesitated.

"Harry," Ginny looked him square in the eyes as she spoke. "I know things with us ended badly, and I told you I am sorry about that. I'd like to think that even though I am no longer your fiancé, we can still be friends."

"I would like that Ginny." Harry looked down at his fingers as he answered her. He had to admit, he had missed Ginny over the last year, and he knew that Ginny would tell him what she thought, not what he wanted to hear. Without realizing what he was doing he found himself saying.

"It's Emily…"

Over the next few minutes he told Ginny all about how he and Emily had met, and how he enjoyed that with her he was just plain Harry, not the boy who lived. He told Ginny how he had not told Emily about his past and that he avoided her questions about the past when she asked. He also told her how Emily was starting to really push him about the Golden Trio thing, and that he really didn't want to answer those questions because it would lead to more questions about is past. He informed her that he liked being just plain Harry with Emily.

Ginny listened and interrupted with just a few questions to clarify something that he said, but basically she let him talk. When he finished he looked at her, and knew by her expression he probably was not going to like her answer.

"Harry, how do you feel about Emily?" She asked.

Harry suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck. He knew he was falling for Emily, but he did not want to tell Ginny that.

"I think she's great." He answered brightly.

Ginny pulled a classic you've got to be kidding face.

"I didn't ask what you think of Emily," she said sharply "I asked how you felt about her."

Harry looked away from Ginny; he did not want to hurt her by letting her know he was moving on with his life. He also knew she would not let him get away with avoiding her questions.

"Come on Harry!" Ginny stated reassuringly, "I'm not going to hex you or anything like that, but if I am going to give you good advice I need to know how you feel about her."

"I think I'm falling for her." He said cautiously.

"Then I think you should tell her about your past Harry." Ginny stated.

It was Harry's turn to pull a face, before Harry could say anything Ginny held up her hand, and continued.

"Harry. Emily is going to find out about your past, there is nothing you can do to prevent that from happening. Someone is going to say something to her. It is better she finds out from you and not someone else."

Harry knew Ginny was probably right, but he still liked being just Harry, when he told Ginny this she just rolled her eyes and said.

"Harry, in the wizarding world you are never going to be just Harry."

Harry just shook his head. He knew she was right, but he did not like it one bit. He told Ginny he would think about telling Emily about what he had done in the second war; Ginny told him that by not telling her he was risking their relationship. She reminded him how much she hated his keeping things from her when they were engaged, and she reminded him how badly that had damaged things with the two of them.

After Ginny had her say, they sat quietly for a minute or two before Harry brought up the main reason he was her.

"Ginny, I want Emily to meet my family."

Ginny looked at Harry wondering when Harry and the Dursley's had worked things out, and why no one had told her about that.

"I don't know Harry, do you think that's a good idea, I mean the Dursley's…"

Harry's eyes widened in shock as she finished her statement.

"Why would I want to introduce her to the Dursley's?" He asked, and then he realized that Ginny did not know he was talking about her family. "Ginny, I don't want Emily to meet the Dursley's; I want her to meet the only family I have ever had, the Weasley's."

Ginny looked at Harry, and smiled. She thought to herself that poor girl does not know what she is in for, she smiled at Harry

"I think that would be great, if you think she would survive one of our family dinners."

"So you would be ok with me bringing her to dinner?" Harry sounded surprised.

"Harry, why would I have a problem with you brining someone that makes you happy to meet the craziest family in the world? However, I am not responsible for any psychological trauma she may suffer from the event."

Harry gave her a brotherly hug, "Thank You Ginny,"

***

Emily Watts was aggravated. She was looking for some glimpse into her boyfriends past, but he was not volunteering any information. When she did try to talk with him about his past he always seemed to find a way to change the subject. She knew that Harry was famous in the wizarding world, but she still had no idea why he was famous.

She figured it had to do something with his being an Auror. Maybe he saved a bunch of wizard children. Maybe he was a famous detective. No she thought to herself Ron was the detective. The point was she didn't know. She knew it had something to do with this club the Golden Trio. She also had deduced that Ron and Hermione were also members of the club. So if she found out what the Golden Trio was, she would learn more about why Harry was so famous.

Harry also never talked about his family. She knew he was an orphan and lived with his Aunt and Uncle. However they have been dating for almost three months, and Harry has not even talked to her about his family. She was surprised because the one time the subject of his family Ron had just referred to them as the muggles. She had the impression that Harry and his Aunt and Uncle were far from close. However once again, she had no idea why.

It was not that she was trying to be nosy. She was falling hard for Harry Potter. She had never been intimate with a man, until Harry. She saw a future with him, and she loved the idea that just maybe she had met the man she may eventually marry. She loved Harry, and because she loved him she wanted to know all there was about him.

Emily was started out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cell phone. She saw that it was Harry calling and answered it quickly.

"Harry, I didn't expect to hear from you?"

"Surprised?" He asked.

She answered that she was, and was happy to hear from him in the middle of the day. She was not filming today so she was planning on taking a trip to Diagon Alley later; she was hoping to find some information on The Golden Trio at Florish and Botts.

Harry told her things were a bit slow and wanted to know if she wanted to meet him for lunch. He arranged to meet her at a cozy little restaurant near her house; she agreed to meet him in about an hour.

An hour later, she was sitting at a cozy waiting for her boyfriend to join her. She was not sure what this was about; Harry very rarely met her in the middle of the day, especially on a work day. Emily found herself wondering what this was all about.

She did not have to wait long, as she saw Harry walk through the door, and looked around the café. He spotter her and headed over to the table. As he sat down he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi." He said happily. Emily noticed that Harry seemed to be in a very good mood. She could not help but comment.

"You're in a good mood today." She smiled at him

"Of course I am." He answered taking her hands in his, "I am having lunch with the prettiest girl in London."

Emily blushed at his compliment. She thought I could get used to this.

Their waitress came to the table and took their orders. After she took the order, she told Emily that she loved her films and asked her for her autograph. Emily quickly signed a napkin and gave it to the waitress. She looked at Harry who was chuckling softly.

"What is so funny?" She asked

"It's just funny to see that happen to someone else." He said happily

She did not respond to this, she knew Harry's fame was a subject that was off limits at this time, so she changed the subject.

"So what's going on Harry?" She asked

The way Harry looked at her, with such intensity in his eyes made her just a little bit nervous. She was not sure what was about to happen, she had never seen Harry like this.

"Well to start with I have something I want to tell you." Harry looked away from her as he said this. Maybe she misread his eyes, maybe he was nervous. She squeezed his hands to reassure him that whatever he said it was ok. He looked up when she squeezed hands, the intensity back in his eyes.

"I have only said this to one other person Emily." He leaned close to her and whispered. "I have fallen in love with you."

For a minute Emily just looked at Harry, responding to what he said with a smile, then she leaned forward and gave him a passionate kiss and said softly, "Good because I have fallen for you hard Harry Potter."

Harry sat back in his chair as the waitress bought their orders, and left.

As Emily was eating her salad she asked Harry.

"So did you just want to tell me I am one of the luckiest girls in England or was there something else?"

Harry answered that the main thing he wanted to tell her is how he felt about her, but he also said there was one other thing.

She didn't ask him what the other thing was; she was enjoying this moment way too much to push things. After they finished their lunches, Harry once again took her hand.

"I think it's time my family meet the women that has stolen my heart." He said casually.

"I thought your parents died when you were a baby."

"Yes My parents did die when I was a baby, I am talking about the family that took me in when I was eleven, and have stood behind me ever since.

"I would like that Harry." She was touched he wanted to do this.

"Good, so what are you doing this Sunday?" He asked.

She smiled as she answered. "I guess I am having lunch with your family."

**

Ginny sat in the living room of the Burrow, staring at a picture of her and Harry. She was once again unhappy about Harry Potter. Since she and Harry resumed their friendship, Ginny realized that she was still very much in love with the boy who lived. The problem was since she had ended things with Harry he finally moved on. Harry seemed very happy with Emily, and as much as she wanted to hate Emily, she couldn't. She was a very nice young lady, and Ginny knew that she was also very much in love with Harry. She also knew that Harry was once again happy. After all Harry has been through Ginny truly felt he deserved to be happy. She had always hoped that he would find that happiness with her; however all she had done is bring him more pain over the last year.

She heard her sister in law sit down next to her. She knew Hermione and the rest of her family were worried about how she would be this afternoon. She felt Hermione put a hand on her shoulder. Ginny looked up at her.

"Gin, are you ok with this?" Hermione asked.

Ginny gave her sister in law a weak smile.

"Not really." She answered truthfully, but before Hermione could say anything she continued. "But I don't have the right to be."

The two women sat in silence for a minute and then Ginny whispered.

"After the things I did to Harry over the last year, I am just happy that he is talking to me again." She felt tears starting to build up in her eyes. "Have you ever realized you have made the biggest mistake in your life?"

Hermione nodded her head, remembering the things she had done in her sixth year to try and make Ron jealous. She had nearly destroyed her friendship with Ron.

"I still love him you know." Ginny said weakly. "I didn't realize it until he showed up in my hospital room last month."

"Ginny," Hermione said gently

Ginny brushed the tears from her eyes as she looked at Hermione.

"You don't have to worry Hermione." She said, "Harry deserves to be happy. I know he is falling for Emily, just please tell me she feels the same for him."

Hermione took Ginny's hands and said gently.

"Yes Ginny, she does."

Ginny nodded her head. "I could tell by the way she looks at him. This is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I am going to let Harry go."

Hermione could tell this was killing Ginny, and really did not know what she could do to comfort her. She knew that Ginny had her chance with Harry, but she let him go. The thing was, Hermione did not think Ginny know how much she had hurt Harry last year. She was glad that she was going to give Harry his chance to be happy, even though it was clear that Ginny was giving up her own happiness.

***

Emily could not think of anything she had experienced as unpleasant as apparition. She doubled over the minute she and Harry arrived in the backyard of the Weasley's. She looked up at harry and whispered.

"Never again."

Harry chuckled as he helped her up, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her and said.

"Then we'll just have to floo back to my flat after dinner."

Emily groaned. There was something else just as unpleasant as apparating. Why couldn't wizards just travel normally, like a car or a bus?

"Too bad we couldn't just take a bus." She said softly.

Harry grinned at her. "Now that I think of it, we could take the knight bus."

Emily looked at Harry, hopefully. Anything had to be better than feeling like you were being squeezed through a tube, or spinning around in a fireplace. She noticed Harry's wicked grin, and something told her the Knight bus probably would be just as fun as the floo network or apparition.

"I think I will take a chance with apparating again." She sighed. At least apparition was fast.

They stepped onto the back porch when a voice sounded through the door.

"Declare yourself."

Harry answered

"It is I, Harry James Potter best friend to your youngest son and his wife Hermione Granger, godfather to Teddy Lupin."

The voice asked.

"Then you would know what my greatest desire is."

"To learn how airplanes stay in the air."

Emily giggled at the last answer. Harry had warned her about Mr. Weasley's fondness for all things Muggle. The back door opened and Harry was quickly pulled into a hug by a redheaded woman.

"Harry it's been too long" she said. She then looked at him critically, "You are still thin, are you eating properly?"

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, Kreacher makes sure I eat properly."

Harry turned to Emily.

"Mrs. Weasley, this is Emily."

Molly looked at Emily, then to her surprise pulled her into a bone crushing hug while saying.

"Emily, I am so pleased to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Weasley." Emily returned her hug, as Mrs. Weasley said.

"Call me Molly dear," Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry, "Maybe if you call me Molly, Harry will stop calling me Mrs. Weasley."

After meeting Mrs. Weasley she was taken into a comfortable living room and introduced to the rest of the family. She already knew Ron, Hermione and Ginny, and even knowing them she was still a bit in addition to Ron, Ginny and Hermione there was George who was missing an ear, Bill and his wife Fleur who was pregnant with their first child, Charlie whom to her great amazement worked with dragons and Percy who worked with his father at the ministry. They all were very happy to meet her.

The dinner Molly cooked was one of the best meals she had ever had. While she was eating she just took in bits of conversation around the table. Ron was reminding Ginny that he still had not forgiven her for helping the Harpies defeat his beloved Canons, George and Charlie were talking about a new line of products he was about to launch at his shop, Molly and Fleur were talking about her baby, something she noticed Hermione was paying close attention to. Bill and Charlie were quizzing Harry on how he met Emily, considering that she was a famous muggle actress, and Emily soon found herself in a conversation with Mr. Weasley, explaining to him how movies were made.

The one thing that Emily did notice was the way George kept watching her as she ate. More to the point, he seemed very interested in a pastry that had been placed next to her plate. The first thing she noticed is that no one else at the table had been served the pastry. Also occasionally others at the table would see the pastry and kind of grin a bit. Luckily for her, Harry had warned her that George would probably try and pull a prank on her. She suspected whatever he was planning had something to do with that pastry.

The one thing being on the set with David and Randall was one how to recognize a set up, and two how to turn the tides on the person pulling the prank. She just needed to find a way to turn the prank back on George. Happily that happened after everyone had finished the dessert molly served.

"Mum," George looked at his mother, "Do we have any more of the apple cobbler?"

"No dear." Molly smiled.

Emily smiled to herself, as she picked up the pastry everyone had been eying and said.

"George," She gave him her sweetest smile, "You can have my pastry, and I am too full to eat anything else."

George just looked at her for a minute and then said, "No thanks Emily, I made that for our special guest."

Emily smiled at George as she answered, "I certainly do appreciate your efforts George," she handed him the pastry. "However I just could not eat anything else and it would be a shame for such a fine pastry to go to waste."

Emily saw the light go on in George's eyes, as the rest of the Weasley's watched the two of them. From his expression he knew Emily was onto him, and had very nicely backed him into a corner. He reached out and took the pastry.

"Nicely done Emily," He said as he took a bite out the pastry. As he finished the first bite there was a bright light and to Emily's shock he turned into a yellow canary. George ran around the table, and she looked to Harry for help. He just shrugged and said.

"You started this one, I know better than to get into a prank war with George,"

Emily started to get up, but with another flash the canary turned back into George.

George just slapped Harry on the back and said.

"Whatever you do Harry, don't blow it with this one. She is a keeper."

Emily joined in the rest of the Weasley's laughter as Charlie said.

"The only person I have ever seen beat you like that was Fred."

The rest of the Weasley's started to laugh again.

"Who's Fred?" She asked

The table suddenly got very quite.

**

Emily continued to look at the clock that had twelve hands on it with the name of each of the Weasley's as well as Fleur, Hermione and Harry's names on them. Each of those hands were pointed on The Burrow. One of the Hands with the name Fred on was pointed at The Afterlife.

All she had been told was that Fred was Georges Twin brother and he had died a couple of years ago. When she had asked how he had died they told her that Harry could explain that to her. She did not ask any more questions, not wanting to bring up painful memories for the family.

Seeing that Emily was a little bothered about the sudden silence at the dinner table when she asked about Fred, Molly bought her to the living room. She then explained to her how the family had taken Fred's death very hard, especially Harry. She then showed Emily her family clock. She explained to her that the hands would always tell her where her family was. She noticed the dials on the clock were Home, The Burrow, Work, Quidditch, Traveling, Mortal Peril and The Afterlife.

Emily asked if Fred's hand had been on mortal peril before he died, why they couldn't have prevented the accident that had killed him. Molly simply said during those times everyone's hands had been on mortal peril. She then left without saying anything else. Emile found herself wondering what could have caused all of the hands on the clock to be at mortal peril.

Finding herself alone in the living room, she noticed the pictures on the fireplace and started to look at them. She still could not get used to the fact that Wizarding photos moved. She liked what she saw in those photos, she could tell that the Weasley's were a very loving family.

There was a picture of a much younger Harry, with Ron and Hermione getting on a train, another of identical twins in front of George's shop, which must have been Fred. Another with a little bit older Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny with a group of about 26 other students labeled Dumbledore's army. The one picture that caught her attention was one of Harry and Ginny Weasley.

The appeared to be sitting by a tree, she was leaning against Harry, his arms around her. To her surprise Ginny looked up to Harry in the picture and the two of them shared a kiss.

Emily just stared at the photo.

"I know were a bit much," she heard Ginny say, "But we really are a…oh"

Ginny stopped talking when she saw the picture that Emily was looking at.

Emily turned to face Ginny.

"You and Harry were together?" She asked.

Ginny looked at Emily, and said.

"He didn't tell you?' She sighed, "I told that pratt he should tell you."

Emily just smiled at Ginny weakly.

"Harry really doesn't talk to me about his past." She tried to hide the irritation in her voice. But she knew Ginny picked up on it.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, "I will be happy to answer any questions you might have about me and Harry."

Emily could see that Ginny was making an effort with her. She know understood why Ginny had been the way she was at the Ball; she must have taken Harry's breaking up with her very hard.

"How long were you together?"

"A couple of years, we broke up about a year and a half before you and Harry met."

"Why did he break up with you?" She needed to know why Harry would not have stayed with Ginny.

Ginny looked away from Emily, then she looked down at the floor before she looked back at Emily.

"He didn't end it, I did." She answered.

Emily suddenly realized, Harry had told how he was engaged in the past and how she had broken it off with him. He told her that breakup nearly killed him. She wondered if Ginny knew how she had broken Harry's heart. She suddenly felt herself getting just a little angry. She had sworn to herself is she ever met the girl that had hurt Harry so much she would….Well she didn't know what she would have done. She also never expected to meet that girl.

"You're the one..."

Ginny held up her hand to stop Emily from finishing what she was going to say.

"I really don't need to hear all the horrible things I have done to Harry." Ginny looked at the picture Emily had been looking at. The picture reminded her of happier times. "My family and the wizarding world have already told me all about it I don't really need to hear it from his girlfriend too."

Emily was surprised by both the bitterness and sadness in her last statement. Even more surprised because the bitterness was not directed at Harry, but her family and the rest of the wizarding world. Emily suddenly realized, Ginny was not bitter at Harry, but her family and the wizarding world. They had decided that Ginny was a terrible person for breaking Harry's heart, but no one had asked her why she broke things off with Harry.

"Ginny?" She asked tentatively. Even though Ginny was Harry's ex, Emily could not help but like her, and she deserved to be able to tell someone her side of what happened with Harry. "Why did you break up with Harry?"

Ginny looked at Emily, clearly surprised at the question, she laughed, but it was a bitter laugh.

"You know, you're the first person to ask me that." Ginny looked away from Emily, "Even my best friend just told me how disappointed she was with me."

"Ginny you don't have to answer." Emily said gently.

Emily noticed a tear starting to fall down Ginny's cheek. She also saw Harry at the doorway. She motioned for him to stop. Harry did as she motioned and turned around and headed back to the dining room. If he was bothered that Emily was talking to his ex girlfriend he did not show it.

Ginny just looked at Emily for a minute and then she started to speak.

"It was a lot of things. Harry's breaking up with me to protect me form Voldemort, his leaving me behind as he went off to fight Voldemort. His going off to die without saying goodbye…"

Emily felt her heart drop into her stomach, "Ginny, what do you mean going off to die."

Ginny looked at Emily. "I'm sorry. I thought Harry told you about what happened during the second war."

"War? What war?"


	11. Changes

Authors Note: I just want to once again take the time to thank all of those that have read and reviewed my little tale. A few chapters back I challenged you to find out whom I based the Emily Watts Charactor off of. Blackhawk 13 was the first to answer the question. Emily Watts is actually based on Emma Watson. Her character made a very brief appearance in the order of the Dragon and that time I had no intention of developing the character much beyond that Cameo. Then Ginny broke Harry's heart at the end of the The Order of the Dragon and he needed a nice girl for this story so in comes Emily. I hate to do this, but the next two chapters are going to be very hard on our other favorite couple, Ron and Hermione. Enjoy.

10

Changes

Draco threw the book he had been reading aside in frustration. The last three weeks had been some of the most frustrating he had ever had as a Barrister, and it was all that mudblood bitch's fault. Some things never changed, Granger was still as stuck up know it all.

First she beat him by having the judgment against the walker family vacated, she then filed a suit to have the marriage contract voided. The thing that had shocked him the most was when she then filed and won a motion to have the case argued before the full Wizengamot, instead of a tribunal. In the briefs she filed she said that not only the marriage contract needed to be challenged but the marriage laws themselves needed to be challenged as well. She was not just seeking to void the Walker's marriage contract, but she was now seeking to have the laws regarding arranged marriages overturned.

The thing that was most frustrating for Draco was that there was no recent case law supporting his arguments for the laws. Even worse, the laws that had been passed over the years making slavery illegal in the United States as well as many of the laws giving women equal rights supported having the laws banished.

Draco sighed. He was going to lose this case. Granger was too smart, and he had to admit, good a Barrister not to use these recent laws to support her case. He could try appealing to the more conservative members of the Wizengamot, but there were not enough to sway the vote his way.

What he needed was something to force Granger to drop the case completely. His problem was he knew Granger, once she got onto something she would never drop it. Especially if she felt she was fighting some kind of injustice.

Draco summoned the book he had just thrown aside, he saw the caption for an article that caught his interest. After reading the article he smiled to himself, he might have just found what he needed to get Granger to drop the walker case.

****

Hermione watched her husband sleeping. She was very lucky to have such an understanding husband, she thought, especially the way things had been over the last few weeks. Hermione had spent more time at the law library researching for the walker case, than she had with Ron. To her surprise, Ron did not give her a hard time over the time she spent away, he was actually very supportive.

She knew the Walker case had been the focus of her life over the last few weeks. After the debate she and Emily had she had looked into how she could use the case to challenge the wizarding marriage laws. After several days of research she found that she could request the case be argued before the full Wizengamot, and that way whatever the decision on the case might be, would become law. It took her two full days to prepare her request to argue to case before the full Wizengamot, in the end they had agreed to let her.

She had spent the last couple of weeks researching case law to support her arguments for not only voiding the Walker marriage contract but overturning the marriage laws as well. Hermione found she had more than enough case law to support her argument. She had been preparing for the upcoming trial night and day for almost a month now. Then something happened that changed her priorities.

Hermione smiled as she looked at her sleeping husband. She was late. To her surprise she was delighted at this. She and Ron had only just started trying to have a baby, and now she was late. She did not get her hopes up, there could have been many reasons or her period not to come on time, especially with the way she was stressing herself out over the Walker case. Then over the last three mornings she had morning sickness. Hermione had no doubt, she was pregnant.

She did not say anything to Ron, she wanted to be sure she was before she said anything to him. Yesterday she had owled Luna and set up an appointment to see her this morning. Suddenly Hermione jumped out of the bed and ran to the loo. After she finished emptying her stomach for the third day in a row she thought to herself, I'll know for sure after I meet with Luna.

***

Ron listened as he Hermione getting sick in the bathroom. This was at least the third day in a row that Hermione had been sick in the morning and he was beginning to get worried. He had heard about some muggle illnesses that caused this kind of sickness, cancer was the one he thought of. He did not know a lot about the disease but he knew it was usually fatal. Ron did not want to think about what he would do if he lost Hermione.

He heard the shower shut off and a minute later the door opened and Hermione stepped out of the bathroom. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ron sitting up in bed.

"Ron, I thought you had the morning off?" She asked.

Ron had been called out on another attack on a muggleborn late last night, and had been out until close to two in the morning interviewing the victim. His supervisor told him to take the morning off. It didn't hurt that he worked independently from the rest of the Aurors, being that he was the only investigator in the department.

"I do." He patted the bed next to him as he answered. She must have misinterpreted his intentions because she answered with a smile.

"Ron I wish I had time for that, but I have to be in the office in forty five minutes"

Ron smiled back at her weakly "'Moine, I wish that was what I wanted…"

Hermione looked at Ron, concerned as she sat down on the bed next to him. He took her into his arms and whispered into her ear.

"What's going on 'Moine?"

She looked at him, and thought to herself, maybe I could take the morning off, she had not taken a day off in more than six months. She would enjoy spending a leisurely morning in bed with her husband. She had to fight back a laugh as she thought. It was one of those leisurely Sunday mornings that got you where you are now…pregnant. Hermione, she chided herself, best not get your hopes up. What is happening could just be stress.

"'Moine?" Ron's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmmm." Was all she could say, she was enjoying Ron's holding her too much to say anything else.

"I'm worried about you." He answered gently. She sat up the minute he finished, and turned to look at him. "What?" She gently caressed his cheek, hoping to distract him. She should have known better.

"That's the third day in a row you have gotten sick." He answered. "What's going on?"

She wanted to tell him that she thought she was going to have his baby, but she did not want to get his hopes up just for what could simply be a stomach bug.

"I think it may just be a stomach bug." Hating herself for not telling him the truth. "I have an appointment to see Luna today at lunch."

Ron nodded. She told him she would let him know what Luna said when he got home from work that night, that settled she proceeded to start to get dressed.

Ron also started to get up, but she scolded him. She knew he had only a couple of hours of sleep over the last couple of nights. She told him that he needed to take advantage of having the morning off and get some sleep. She then tucked her husband back into bed, gave him a passionate kiss goodbye and left for work.

***

Hermione was just a little nervous as she walked into Luna's small office. Luna was not a full healer yet, but St. Mungo's made exceptions for the Golden Trio, and all three of the trio insisted on Luna taking care of their medical needs.

"Hermione," she said in her serene voice, "Were we meeting for an early lunch?"

She just smiled Luna. If anyone had told her at the beginning her fifth year that she and Luna would become good friends she would have told them they were insane. Now she could not imagine not having Luna as a friend.

"No Luna," Hermione hesitated.

Luna was one of the best people at reading other people that Hermione had ever met. She supposed that was what made her a good mediwizard and would make her a superb healer. Hermione was not surprised when Luna cut right to the chase

"So what's going on with you?"

"I need a pregnancy test." Hermione answered with a smile.

Luna smiled brightly. "Really?" She motioned for Hermione to sit on the examining table, "Planned or accident?" Luna asked.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at the question.

Luna explained that she needed to know because contraceptive charms could have an adverse affect on the fetus, and there were treatments she would have to administer to make sure nothing happened to the baby. Hermione let her know that she and Ron were trying to have a baby.

After asking some basic questions Luna began her exam. The exam took about twenty minutes, and when she was finished she stepped out of the examination room to get the results of some of the test she had done.

Hermione waited anxiously for Luna to return. After about fifteen minutes, Luna returned.

"Well I have your test results…"

***

Ron was looking at a map of London. On the map there were several red and yellow dots. Each dot indicated a location where a muggleborn had been attacked. The yellow indicated some type of incident such them being harassed but not physically attacked.

He was looking for some kind of pattern to the attacks. Ron was getting a little concerned because the attacks were getting more and more violent. Ron felt the attacks were being made by a single group. He didn't have any solid evidence, but he had a strong gut feeling. Over the last year he had learned to pay attention to his gut.

Ron opened up his case file and started going through the reports again.

Each of the attacks had been on a muggleborn witch or wizard.

Each involved some form of physical attack. The first few attacks were relatively minor, a few insults followed by a punch or two. The last two attacks were a bit more violent with both of those victims ending up in the hospital.

There had to be some kind of link to the attacks. Ron continued to read through the reports when something on one of the reports caught his eye. The young lady that had been attacked had just announced her engagement to a pureblood. Ron stared at the report for a few more minutes. He then went through the rest of the reports. Each of the reports indicated the victim had been attacked. They also stated that when they were taken to the hospital, they had notified their fiance's of the attacks.

So each of the victims were engaged, Ron started to put a theory together, but he had to confirm it. He asked the units secretary to bring him the marriage and engagement announcements from the daily profit for the last year. A few minutes later she returned with what he had asked for.

It was just a matter of some quick spellwork to sort the papers. Ron had found his pattern. Each of the victims had recently announced an engagement to a pureblood wizard. Ron found himself wondering if these attacks might be related to the Walker case. He turned to his filing cabinet to locate the file on that case when he was interrupted by Hermione's voice.

"You have time for a quick lunch?"

Ron turned to face his wife, smiling.

"Well I am about to solve one of the great mysteries of all time." He joked as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss. "But for you I will let it wait."

"Well as long as it's nothing too important." Hermione smiled back.

One of the things she enjoyed with her husband were some of the little games they created. They had a few, but Ron always made it a point to show her how she was the most important thing in his life, and she loved him for it. She watched as he grabbed his cloak, and they headed down to the cafeteria.

The made small talk on their way down, talking about the latest news or gossip as walked and picked out their lunches. Hermione motioned towards a private table for two and they sat down.

****

Ron looked at his wife, thinking for the millionth time how lucky he was. Hermione blushed as he gazed at her, and picked at her plate. She was trying to think of a way tell him how her appointment with Luna went.

"So how was your morning?" Ron asked. He was dying to know about her appointment, but he did not want to press her, so he tried to dance around the subject.

His wife smiled at him, and answered. "Everything was fine, until I found out you might have to go by a new name."

Ron looked at her, a bit confused. "New name? Why would I have to go by a new name, and what would that name be?"

Hermione took his hand and whispered "Dad."

Ron just looked at her, "Why would I have to go by..."

Ron the realized what she was telling him, his eyes got wide and he asked.

"When and how?" He asked dumbfounded.

Hermione laughed as she answered "If I have to answer that question then we may be in a bit of trouble."

Before she could finish Ron interrupted her.

"You're sure?"

"Luna confirmed everything this morning." Hermione answered gleefully.

Ron jumped out of his chair and took her into his arms, gently lifting her as he kissed her deeply. He was about to shout he that he was going to be a father, but the look Hermione gave him stopped him.

"I think we should tell our family before we announce this to the world."

Ron's ears got pink as he noticed everyone was looking at the two of them. He slowly put Hermione down and said, "Ok, but I have a feeling everyone here knows something is up."

Hermione laughed. "That's because my husband is terrible at keeping a secret."

"I hate to interrupt your celebration Granger." The drawl of Draco Malfoy's voice broke the two of them out of their celebration.

Ron was too happy to look at Draco with his normal contempt. Before he could say anything Hermione answered him.

"Then don't." she took Ron's hand, "and my name is Weasley."

"Trust me Granger, I had to fight hard to keep from getting sick at that outrageous display of affection. Honestly, Weasley, it's a disgrace."

Ron growled. "There is nothing disgraceful about showing my wife and the rest of the world that I love her. What do you want Malfoy?"

"I need to speak to Granger." He answered.

"What is so important you had to interrupt my lunch Malfoy?" Hermione asked biting back her anger.

Draco took a seat as he answered.

"I wanted to talk to you about dropping the Walker case."

"Why would I do that Malfoy?" Hermione looked at Draco as if he had lost his mind, "The law is on my side."

Draco smiled as he handed her some papers. Hermione looked at the papers that he handed her. Her face suddenly turned into an angry scowl. Before she could say anything Draco said smugly.

"I have not filed these yet, and if you drop the Walker case I won't. However…"

"You have no standing."

"I do as a relative to Weasle here." He answered.

Ron watched the two of them, wanting to know what the hell this was about, but he did not say anything.

"So, do we have a deal Granger? You drop the Walker case and I won't…"

Hermione interrupted him.

"You can go to hell Malfoy. I am not going to drop the Walker case. As for this," she shoved the papers back into his hands, "Go ahead, this will never hold up."

Draco stood up, "I hoped you would say that." He then handed another set of papers to Ron.

"Weasley you and your mudblood bitch have been served."

Ron shot out of his chair as Malfoy finished. The only thing that stopped him from slugging Malfoy was Hermione's grabbing his arm saying "Ronald don't."

"Well I have to go now." Malfoy turned and walked away.

It was just after he walked away from Malfoy that he looked at the papers Malfoy had given him. He read them and then looked at Hermione.

"Can he do this?"

Hermione answered.

"He can try. I have to talk to Kingsley Ron." She got up and before she left she kissed him. "I don't care what papers Malfoy files Ron, you are my husband."

Hermione didn't even say hello to Harry as she rushed out of the cafeteria. Harry looked at him and asked. "What did you do?"

Ron just handed him the papers Malfoy had given him. They first page said it all.

MOTION FOR TO DISSOULUTION OF THE MARRIAGE OF RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY A PUREBLOOD WIZARD and HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER A MUGGLEBORN.

Harry stared at the papers dumbfounded, "You've got to be kidding." Was all he said.


	12. The Kangaroo Court

11

The Kangaroo Court.

That night Ron would not stop holding Hermione. She was comforted by his holding her, and reassuring her that no matter what happened the next day, she was his wife. Hermione did not sleep well that night, and finally very early in the morning the gave up sleeping as a bad job. She got out of bed, and went to the library Ron had set up for her.

The library was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her, and it was Ron's wedding gift to her. Not only did it have her own book collection but he also set it up so she could access books in the ministries law library as well as the Hogwarts library. She looked at the summons that Malfoy had given them at lunch, she then started to find the books she would need to research the laws cited in Malfoy's motion...

"'Moine wake up."

Hermione woke up to her husband gently rubbing her shoulders. She looked up at him and he kissed her forehead. She must have fallen asleep while she was researching the marriage laws cited in Malfoy's motion. She could not believe Malfoy's gall, he was citing laws that were passed during the time Voldemort was in control of the ministry making marriages between muggleborns and pureblood families illegal. She was confident that there was now way the Wizengamot would grant his motion.

She did not have a lot of time, she only had until three that afternoon to prepare her case.

Ron looked at her, and took her hand before he spoke.

"'Moine, you're not planning on representing us are you?"

She looked at him and nodded her head.

Ron then asked her if it might be better to have someone that was not personally involved be the one that presented the case to the Wizengamot. She responded that no Barrister in his right mind would take on a case that gave them less than twenty four hours to prepare for. Since she had already done some research and she pointed out to Ron that since Malfoy was using laws that were passed during the time that Voldemort had been in control of the ministry she really did not think he would succeed. With that the conversation was ended.

***

"Draco, why are you wasting your time with this?" Bledsoe asked hotly.

He had found out about Draco's motion to dissolve the marriage between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger that morning. Once he found out he quickly summoned Malfoy.

"You should be concentrating on preparing for the Walker case." He finished.

Draco glared at Bledsoe for a minute before he answered.

"I have told you before, there is no way we are going to win the Walker case…"

"Then maybe I need to find another Barrister to handle the case." Bledsoe answered back hotly.

"That is certainly your right." Draco answered back, "However that won't change the fact that case law supports both the marriage contract being dissolved, and the law being changed. That is something I do not believe Granger will miss. So please, by all means find another barrister so that I will not have this loss on my record."

Bledsoe stared at Draco, he was not used to being challenged like this.

Draco continued.

"By ending Granger's marriage my hope is that she will either withdraw from the case, or be too upset to argue the Walker case effectively."

Bledsoe looked at Draco, not believing what he was hearing.

"What do you mean by ending her marriage, your case law on this matter is tenuous at best. You are using laws that were passed by Delores Umbridge during the time that The Dark Lord was in control of the ministry. Surely Granger will point that out and the tribunal will throw the case out."

Draco laughed

"You have underestimated me. There is no way I am going to lose this afternoon."

It was Bledsoe's turn to laugh, "I would not be so sure Draco, not with some of the decisions that have come from the Wizengamot lately."

Draco smirked as he answered. "Yes you are right, but I have made sure that today's tribunal consists of members of the Wizengamot that support our cause. Granger lost this case the minute I filed my motion."

***

Ron and Hermione sat at the respondents table holding each others hands to comfort each other as they waited or the trial to begin. Hermione told Ron she was confident that she would be able to get Malfoy's motion dismissed since it was using laws passed during the time that Voldeomort had been in control of the ministry.

The laws were drawn up and forced through the Wizengamot by Delores Umbridge along with the Muggleborn registration act. The Pureblood Marriage Act made any marriage between muggleborns and pureblood wizards illegal. The law also stated that any marriage between purebloods and muggleborns that had occurred prior to this law were dissolved. It was a law based on prejudice and the misguided notion of blood purity. The problem was the law was never repealed.

Hermione believed that Draco would once again lose this case, and she also planned on asking the Wizengamot to declare the law unjust, effectively repealing the law. She smiled to herself as she imagined the look on Draco's face when she beat him again.

However, as the members of the tribunal entered the court room and sat down, Hermione started to get worried. Thomas Knott sat in the Chief Warlocks chair. Hermione realized she need not be concerned. She had a pending case in which the Knott family was the responded. She would simply file a motion for him to recuse himself from this case, since it would be considered a conflict of interest for him to preside over a case in which he was involved in pending litigation with the respondent.

Shortly after the three members of the Wizengamot took their seats, Draco Malfoy arrived and took his seat at the plaintiffs table. Knott looked at Malfoy and stated.

"Mr. Malfoy, You may proceed."

Before Draco could say anything, Hermione stood up.

"May it please the court." She stated.

If looks could kill Hermione would be dead the way Knott glared at her. He nodded his head indicating she could speak.

"Mr. Knott, since I have a pending matter before the Wizengamot that you are the respondent to, I ask that you recuse yourself from this case."

Knott just glared at Hermione with pure hate in his eyes, however his voice did not carry the hate that was in his eyes.

"Miss. Granger, I have been a member of the Wizengamot for over twenty years. I think I am more than capable of judging this matter fairly. Your motion is denied."

That was when Hermione knew there was no way for her to win this case. She and Ron were going to be divorced. She sat down, clearly defeated and simply stated, for the record.

"Exception."

Knott raised his eyebrows at Hermione but did not say anything. Hermione needed him to acknowledge her exception since she knew that Knott was going to grant Malfoys motion to dissolve her marriage.

Knott turned to Malfoy, however Hermione interrupted him stating louder

"**Exception!"**

Knott glared at her and said "I heard you the first time Miss Granger, your exception has been noted!" He then looked at Malfoy. "Mr. Malfoy Proceed."

Over the next twenty Hermione listened as the ferret made the case that her marriage to Ron Weasley was illegal. As she thought he used the Pureblood Marriage Act as the basis for his claim. He argued the law stated that marriages between muggleborns and purebloods were not legal. Once Draco presented his case Hermione presented hers, stating that the most that the Wizengamot could do was continue this case pending the outcome of the Walker case, since she was asking that the pureblood marriage laws be overturned. She stated in the interest of justice, the court should take no action until that case was decided.

Once she was done presenting her case, she could tell by the expression of the tribunal members as they "Deliberated" that she was going to lose the case. After about ten minutes the tribunal re entered the room. Ron and Hermione stood as Knott addressed the room.

"Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. We have considered your arguments regarding this motion, and though Mrs. Weasley you correct in pointing out there is a case pending challenging these laws, however at this time this is the law, until the law is changed, no matter how unjust the law may be, we as officers of the court cannot just ignore the law. Plaintiffs motion is granted. The marriage of Ronald Billius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger is not a legal marriage under the Pureblood marriage act and is dissolved. Miss Granger Wizengamot further orders that you are to establish a residence separate from Mr. Weasley."

Hermione just sat at the table stunned.

Ron stared at Thomas Knott, stunned at what he was hearing . He did not care what anyone said, Hermione was his wife. He jumped up and shouted at Knott.

"You cannot do this."

"Mr. Weasley sit down." Knott stated, patiently.

Ron would not hear any of it.

"Hermione is my wife, and nothing you do will can change that." Ron spat back.

"Mr. Weasley that has already been decided. Your marriage is null and void. I suggest you start looking for a proper pureblood wife instead of…"

Ron's ears turned pink and he shouted back at Knott.

"I am not going to find another woman when Hermione is going to be the mother of my child."

Thomas Knott looked shocked at Ron's statement, he then looked at Hermione and asked.

"Miss. Granger is this true?"

Hermione did not answer.

Knott angrily asked again.

"Miss. Granger are you pregnant?"

Hermione did not speak, she shook her head yes, Ron could see tears on her cheeks and felt his anger growing. Before he could say anything Knott started talking with the two other members of the Tribunal. He then faced Hermione.

"Miss. Granger, Your marriage had been dissolved. It is in your best interest at this time to terminate your pregnancy."

Ron glared at Knott, but before he could say anything Hermione spoke softly.

"That is not any of this courts business." She stated calmly "That is a decision for myself and the baby's father and we have decided to keep this baby."

Knott smiled cruelly as he asked.

"Miss. Granger, any child of a pureblood wizard born to a muggleborn is an abomination and will not be allowed. I order you to terminate you pregnancy within the next ten days."

"I will not kill my baby." Hermione answered back.

Knott saw that Hermione would not obey his orders.

"You leave me no choice Miss Granger. Court officers."

One of the bailiffs stepped up.

"You are to take Miss Granger into custody, you will then escort her to St Mungos where you will use whatever force needed to enforce this court's order to terminate her pregnancy. I will advise St. Mungos to be ready for you."

The bailiff stared at Knott, shocked.

"Bailiff do it now" Knott shouted.

The bailiff started to move to take Hermione into custody, however before he got to her he was shoved away by Ron, and before he could do anything else he was hit by the Stunner that Ron had shot at him.

After that the court room broke into pandemonium as Ron and Hermione started to shoot curses at the court officers, and tried to escape the court room.

***

The one thing that Kingsley Shacklebolt hated about his job was the paperwork. It seemed that he spent more time as Minister of Magic reviewing reports than he did governing the wizarding world. Kingsley sighed as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. The clock said it was eleven. He could not believe he had spent all morning reviewing the Ministry budget for the upcoming year. No one had warned him about this part of the job.

As he leaned back to continue reading about the resources being allocated to the various departments he was startled buy the sound of an alarm and then a calm voice.

"Code Red. Courtroom 12, Code Red Courtroom 12."

As Kingsley stepped out of his office, the head of his security detail stopped him.

"What are you doing minister?" He asked.

"I am going to see what is going on." He answered.

His security chief quickly explained to him that it would be best if he stayed where he was because they had no idea what was going on or the nature of the threat. He suggested Kingsley send someone else and to have them report back to them. Kingsley nodded to Percy Weasley, who quickly stepped out with one of the security detail.

***

Percy knew that Kingsley would have preferred to find out what was going on by himself. However Percy knew that was not possible. He was the minister of magic and he could not just put himself in danger anymore.

What Percy had not shared with the minister was how worried he suddenly was. Percy had kept his promise to Ron and his sister in law and had not said anything about the trial they had today. He thought back to the conversation he had with them at their flat that morning.

"Ron, tell me what is going on?" Percy asked his brother as he answered the door to his flat.

"What are you talking about Perce?" Ron asked as he invited him in. Hermione was sitting at the table, her breakfast untouched and was reading something and writing notes as she read.

"Come off it Ron." Percy shot back, "Along with all the other items I get to review each morning, I also get a list of all cases pending in the Wizengamot. I thought you and Hermione were getting along fine."

"We are." Ron answered.

"Then why are you getting a divorce?"

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading as he said this, and in a horrified voice she asked.

"How do you know about that?"

"I saw the docket for today Hermione. Courtroom 12, Motion for the dissolution of the marriage of Ronald Billius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger."

Hermione nodded as Ron answered.

"We are not getting a divorce." He looked at Hermione, sadly, as she began to explain.

She explained to him that Malfoy was the one to file the motion, under marriage laws that were passed by Deloris Umbridge while Voldemort was in control of the ministry. She also explained to him that she really did not expect the Wizengamot to take the motion seriously and she expected to have it dismissed fairly quickly.

As Percy ran down to courtroom 12 he had a feeling that things did not go the way his sister in law expected them to this morning. His suspicions were confirmed as he entered the court room. Percy could not believe what he was seeing.

Ron was being restrained by several court officers, there were also at least a half a dozen court officers unconscious on the floor. Hermione was being held down on a gurnee as she was being strapped in, she was screaming for her life. Ron was fighting to get to his wife, and the four court officers whom were trying to hold him back were being pulled with him. He then heard the chief warlock speaking to one of the court officers.

"Seargent, you are to take Miss Granger to St. Mungos now. The healers have been informed of what has to be done and they are waiting for you. You will stay and make sure that my orders are carried out."

From what Percy could see, the court officers had things under control, which to him did not seem to bode well for his brother and his wife. The Chief Warlock confirmed this by yelling for the sergeant to cancel the Code Red. What concerned him was what he said as he ordered the cancelation.

"Damn it Sergeant." The chief warlock whom Percy recognized was Thomas Knott shouted "Cancel the code red before the Auror's are summoned."

This was all Percy needed to hear. He shouted above the noise.

"Knott, I would think you would want the Auror's here to maintain…"

Percy never finished what he was about to say, Ron at hearing his voice shouted over him.

"Percy they are going to kill our baby!"

Percy looked at Ron, dumbfounded, however before he could answer. Knott shouted at Ron.

"No Mr. Weasley we are going to prevent and abomination."

Percy addressed his next question to Knott. "What do you mean Chief Warlock?"

"Mr. Weasley. I mean we are going to prevent this Muggle bitch from giving birth to another half breed." He looked at Percy, "Besides we cannot have children born out of wed lock now can we."

"What do you mean out of wedlock?" Percy asked confused, "My brother's marriage to Mrs. Weasley is well documented."

"That marriage has been dissolved under the Pureblood Marriage act…"

Knott never finished what he was about to say, as Percy turned and ran as fast as he could.

***

Kingsley was not happy about having to send someone else to find out what was going on down in the courtrooms, and he made sure that his security detail knew he was not happy. After a minute of chastising them for treating him like a child he gave it up as a bad job. No matter what he would they just stood passively letting him rant and rave over the injustice of it all.

After waiting for what seemed like years, Percy came into his office. When Kingsley saw his expression, he jumped out of his seat. Before he could ask Percy quickly explained what was going on in the court room downstairs. As Kingsley listened to his assistant he became more and more angry over what he heard. When Percy finished by telling him that Hermione was being taken to St. Mungo's by force to have her pregnancy terminated he snapped into action. He reached for his radio, which would be the fastest way to send help for Mrs. Weasley. As he spoke he tried to hide the anger in his voice.

"MOM to RRT1 Assignment"

A few seconds later Harry Potters voice answered back.

"RRT1 go."

"RRT1 you are to proceed to St. Mungo's hospital," He paused, where would they terminate a pregnancy. He had no idea, "Locate Hermione Weasley, and use whatever force necessary to stop any medical procedures being done to her."

Harry asked for clarification on the orders whatever force necessary. Kinglsey responded back that he did not care what methods Harry used, he was to stop the healers from hurting Mrs. Weasleys baby.

After he finished ordering Harry to St. Mungos he ordered his security detail to locate Ron Weasley and secure his release, again using whatever force necessary, they were to then take him to his wife. He then stood up and told Percy to join him, he was going to go see the Chief Justice of the Wizengamot.

The walk to the chief justices office took only five minutes, but as he walked Kingsley felt himself getting angrier and angrier. By the time he got to the Chief Justices office he was in a rage. As he walked into the outer office, the glass door shattered into a million pieces as he slammed it open.

A startled secretary jumped up. "Minister."

He just walked past her and found the door locked.

The secretary started to inform Kingsley that the Chief Justice was in a private meeting. Kingsley ignored her and drew his wand and blasted the locked door to pieces. As he entered the chief justices office he shouted

"Just what kind of Kangaroo court are your running?"

***

Victor Krum sat in the waiting room near the emergency entrance for St. Mungos maternity ward. He had been waiting for news on his wife for almost an hour. She was three months pregnant and had been experiencing cramping and some spotting. She was being seen by a long blond haired medi witch that he recognized and one of Ron and Hermione's friends from the war. He just wanted some news.

He looked around the waiting room. There were about ten other people in the waiting area, most were waiting for a healer to come and update them on the condition of a loved one. As he looked around the ward he was surprised at how simple the layout was. To the east of the waiting area was an emergency apparition point, where patients in need of immediate care would be apparrated in, across from him were the registration areas. A corridor stretched from the main area he was in to the treatment rooms and the maternity ward itself. A security desk at the beginning of the corridor prevented any unauthorized visitors from entering the ward. The ward only had one way in, making it one of the more secure hospital wards he had ever seen.

Suddenly the peaceful silence of the ward was shattered by the pops of several people arriving at the emergency apparition point. Victor was shocked when he heard the familur voice of Hermione screaming.

"You can't do this."

Victor stood up and walked towards the sound of his friend's voice, he looked in the direction of her voice and was shocked at what he saw.

Hermione was strapped onto a stretcher and she was struggling against her restraints. She was escorted by a half a dozen men in the uniforms of the MLE squad. A healer was preparing to examine her. She looked at him and begged.

"Please don't kill my…"

To Victor's horror the healer said in a cold voice.

"You should have thought about that before getting pregnant with a purebloods child you filthy mudblood."

Without realizing it Victor had been walking toward the group of men surrounding his friend. Victor could not stay silent after hearing the Healer call Hermione a mudblood.

"'Vot is going on here?" He asked.

The healer ignored him.

One of the men escorting Hermione stepped over to him and grabbed his arm, saying

"This is none of your business.."

He was interrupted by Hermione pleading with Victor.

"Victor please help me, they are going to kill my baby."

"Vot?"

Victor shook off the guards hand and started to head towards Hermione.

Two more of the officers with Hermione blocked his way. They advised him not to interfere with ministry business and started to push him away from the group. Victor pushed one of the two officers, but was forced to stop when the others drew their wands. They then took Hermione back into the treatment area.

***

Harry looked at Emily, not exactly sure how he wanted to answer the question she had just asked. He was surprised when she asked him to meet her at the leaky cauldron for an early lunch. He kind of hoped they might slip upstairs to one of the rooms for about an hour. That hoped was quickly dashed when she asked him to tell her about the war.

Harry tried to brush the question aside by acting like he did not know what she was talking about. That was when she told him about the conversation she had with Ginny the day she met the Weasleys. Harry would not lie to her, so he knew he would have to do the one thing he did not want to do. He had to tell Emily about his past.

So over the next forty minutes he told her everything. She tried a few times to interrupt with questions, he asked her to let him finish before she asked any questions. He told her it would be easier for him to tell her everything and then answer any questions she might have.

He had just finished telling her about the final battle with Voldemort and before she had a chance to ask about what she had heard his radio beeped, then He heard Kingsley's voice.

He listened to his orders, not asking the questions that he had. Like what did he mean save Hermione's baby and why he had just been given the green light to use force against the MLE.

He could see Emily had questions to. As he keyed in the code to contact his team she asked.

"Harry, what was that all about?"

"I don't know Emm" he answered. He needed to find out where Hermione would have been taken so he called Luna.

***

At first Luna was not aware that Hermione was at the hospital, which concerned her a great deal since Hermione was her patient. She was able to explain to Harry that Hermione had just found out yesterday that she was pregnant. As she relayed that information she gasped into the phone.

"Oh my."

"Luna what is it?" Harry asked.

She informed Harry that Hermione had been bought to St. Mungos to have her pregnancye terminated. She also told him the Healer also intended to sterilize her so she could not have any more children. She then told she was being taken to the maternity ward for the procedure.

As Luna finished, the rest of the RRT arrived at the Leaky cauldron, Harry asked Hanna Abbot, whom working that day for a private room, he then headed to the room with his team. Emily seemed unsure what to do. He motioned for her to join him.

She looked at him in surprise, but followed him into the room.

Over the next ten minutes Harry worked with his team to put a strike plan together. He informed his team to assume they were going into a hostile situation. He also told them they were taking on court officers from the MLE. This caused a bit of a stir, until he explained what the mission was. He heard Emily gasp as he informed the team that Hermione was being forced to terminate a pregnancy. He also explained he wanted Emily to help comfort Hermione once the rescue was completed. When he was asked why not the Weasley's he told them he did not need a bunch of hot headed red heads looking for revenge. The team laughed.

The plan was simple. One team member would apparate to the emergency apparition point in the maternity ward. He would bring down the anti apparition wards. Once the wards were down the rest of the team would apparate in and take out any guards. There were two surgical rooms in the maternity ward. Hermione would be in one of them. He stressed to the team time was of the essence…

***

The witches and wizards that had been in the waiting room sat in a stunned silence. They watched as at least eight witches and wizard dressed in MLE court uniforms took positions at the security station and in the hallway. The people knew that they had just bought in Hermione Weasley, who was begging the healer not to kill her child. Several people shouted angrily as the healer called her a filth mudblood, but after Victor Krum was beaten when he tried to interfere, the crowd backed down.

When asked about what happened next, all the people would say is it happened very fast.

It started when a Wizard dressed in Aurors robes arrived in the emergency apparition area. The wizard looked around as several MLE officers approached him. Before they were able to get to him raised his wand and a blue light shot from his wand. The next thing people heard were the sounds of the protective wards around the maternity ward crash down. The auror spoke into his hand. "Clear."

As soon as he finished all hell broke loose

Two more Aurors apparrated into the waiting area, before the MLE officers could do anything they fired powerful stunners at them, knocking them down.

Two more Aurors apparrated into the hall behind the security desk. Again the MLE officers at the security desk didn't have the chance to respond as the aurors hit them with powerful stunners as well. Once the guards at the security desk were stunned, to everyone's surprise Harry Potter apparrated in, with a Blond haired girl.

Emily felt her heart pounding in her chest as she appeared by a large set of double doors with Harry, the minute they appeared Harry shouted "Down".

She immediately dropped to the floor; she also noticed that two of Harry's team also dropped to the ground. Apparently he was shouting at them, but she stayed on the ground. She heard Harry say "Protego" and heard what sounded like small explosions in front of her.

She then watched as Harry ducked down, and two more red bolts shot over his head and exploded into the door behind him.

She heard Harry shout stupify, as well as the voices of two other of the team members. Then she heard shouts from the hallway. "Clear."

Harry quickly looked at her, "You ok?" he asked. She nodded yes and Harry got up and ran down the corridor towards the door where two men were unconscious.

Harry quickly made sure that Emily was ok. He was a little shocked that he had to duel two mle officers. He would have to find out where Kingsley had gotten his information because there were two more guards than he knew about.

Once he made sure Emily was ok, he ran down the hall and took a position by the door to the operating theater. Another team member waited on the other side of the door. Harry counted with his fingers too three. On three the two men charged through the door.

In the room was a healer and nurse. Lying on a bed was Hermione. She was still begging the healer not to kill her baby. The healer looked up as Harry burst into the room and shouted.

"What is the meaning of this I am..."

Harry shouted at the healer as he trained his wand on him, his intent clear.

"Drop the wand,"

The healer looked at Harry, but did not drop his wand.

"Drop the wand, now!" He shouted

The healer ignored Harry and began to mutter an incantation.

Before he could finish Harry hit him with a stunner, knocking him back into the wall. Harry did not know if he had been in time. He spoke into his hand, and a few seconds later Luna rushed into the room, followed by Emily.

Luna immediately started to examine Hermione, as Emily ran up to her and began to comfort her as best as she could. Luna made several movements with her wand, and watched as the results floated above Hermione's stomach. After a few more seconds Luna looked at Harry.

"The baby's fine, but I want to keep her overnight just to make sure.

Hermione started to thank everyone from Merlin to Jesus and God.

As she said her silent prayers of thanks the door opened again and Ron ran up to her taking his wife in his arms, he looked at Luna who whispered to him. "She's ok."

Harry saw Kingsley and turned to him and asked. "Just what the hell is going on?"

***


	13. Muggles Go Home

Authors Note: I want to take the time to thank all of you that have taken the time to read and review this story. It is your feedback that keeps me motivated to continue this story. The next few chapters were all fairly difficult to write, though they may seem to not relate to some of the things that have happened so far, each is very important in setting up some things that will be happening later. Again I challenge any of you readers to let me know if you have figured out what one of those things may be. I have already dropped many hints of this event in the chapters you have already read. If you guess correctly I will let you know what they future may hold for those vic...Characters.

12

Muggles Go Home

Emily took another sip of butterbeer. This isn't that bad, she thought to herself as she put down the glass. It had been a couple of days since Harry rescued Hermione and her unborn baby. She still found it hard to believe that someone would order a woman to have an abortion against her will. Even worse, she thought was the reason behind the order.

Looking back, she knew there were signs of prejudice in Harry's world. She remembered what Ron's sister had said after meeting her at the ball a few weeks ago…"I didn't know you were a muggle." Emily remembered the way Ginny said muggle, it sounded like a dirty word.

She would also catch other witches and wizards giving her a look of disgust as she walked around Diagon alley. These were things that Emily learned to ignore for some reason. But she could not ignore the fact that some wizard had wanted to kill Hermione's unborn child, all because his or her mother was not a pureblood witch.

That had been a very tough day for Emily, right after finding out about the war with Voldemort that Harry had fought along with his two best friends. As she thought about what Harry had told her about that war she realized that the prejudices that Harry and his friends had fought so hard against had not gone away.

Emily realized that with all of the wonder of the wizarding world, that world also had a very ugly underbelly. She remembered what Harry had told her when he started to tell her about the war, "Not all wizards are good, some go bad." Emily had no trouble believing this, she has already had more experiences than she cared to with wizards that had gone bad.

***

"Ginny please, you're my last hope." Harry pleaded. Ginny looked at his image in the orb before her. George was testing a new Weasley product to take the place of floo calls. Until today Ginny thought it was a great invention, however today, Harry did not have to make his call a fast one. He did not have to worry about his knees and neck hurting if he talked too long. Today this was a disadvantage because he could plead with her longer.

"Harry," Ginny sighed, Harry was supposed to meet Emily for lunch at the leaky cauldron, however one of the most wanted fugitives in the wizarding world had been spotted and his team was going out to capture him. This meant Harry would have to break off his lunch with Emily. What made it worse for Harry was he could not call her on her cell phone, since her phone did not work around magic. Emily did not have one of the phones that George sold that worked around magic. "Do you really want your' ex fiancé having lunch with your girlfriend?"

They both laughed, as she laughed Ginny already knew she would do this for Harry. It was nice to have him back as a friend, and to be honest, Ginny really did like Emily. If he couldn't be with her, she thought, Emily was perfect for him. She and Emily had the chance to talk during a couple of Weasley family dinners and she found her to be very nice. She thought that they could be friends.

"You owe me big time Potter." She said.

Harry told her what a life saver she was, he also asked her not to say anything to Emily that would make her worry about him. Once Harry ended the call, Ginny went to her bedroom to get ready.

***

David Blaine stared at the blond haired muggle sitting in the booth across from him. He could not believe a Muggle was sitting in the leaky cauldron, as if she belonged there. What bothered him was that muggles just did not seem to know there place anymore.

As he looked at the blonde he thought to himself, for a muggle she is not really that bad looking. He had run into a bit of a dry spell as of late and had not been laid in a few weeks. Even his fiancé was not willing to sleep with him. Though that was more that bitch Grangers fault than anything.

His engagement was an arranged marriage, and since Granger had challenged the Walkers marriage contract his fiancé had not had a lot to do with him. She had actually made it clear that if Granger won the Walker case she would be calling off their engagement.

Blaine wondered as he continued to glare at the blonde, where had the code of Honor that Wizards followed gone. There was a time when it would have been unheard of for a witch to even think about not honoring a marriage contract. If she did, her family certainly would not encourage her to break the contract. That was not the case in these times. Katrina Walker's father was fighting his marriage contract, and his fiancé had no intention of marrying him if Walker succeeded in fighting his daughters.

It was the damn muggles, he thought, their stupid ideas about men and women getting married being in love. What the hell did love have to do with marriage? Hell if everyone married the one they loved there would be no pureblood wizards left. Though I would not kick that blonde muggle out of bed, Blaine thought to himself as he continued to look at the muggle.

His fantasies of doing whatever he wanted to the blonde muggle were broken by his waitress as she served him another firewhiskey.

"You might as well forget about her," she said nodding in the direction of the blonde he was staring at. He looked at the waitress.

"She's just a muggle that doesn't know where she belongs, what's so special about her?"

His waitress laughed as she answered.

"Well for one thing she is a very famous muggle for some reason, and two she's Harry Potter's girlfriend."

Blaine looked at the waitress and said "Am I suppose to all frightened now. Potter is nothing, hell he can't even get a witch to date him, he has to date a muggle."

"It's your funeral." The waitress laughed as he walked away from him.

Blaine looked at the blonde for a few more minutes, he then got up and started walking towards her table. Maybe he would show her what it was like to be with a real wizard.

"You know you really shouldn't be sitting by yourself."

Emily did her best not to curse Harry at the sound of the man's voice. She looked up from the script she was reviewing. Looking back at her was a sandy blonde haired young man. He appeared to be about her age, but the way he was looking at her made Emily uncomfortable.

"I can take care of myself." She answered curtly. Maybe he would get the hint she thought.

"Oh, I am sure you would be fine if you were at a muggle pub," The man sat down across from her without being asked, "This however, is not a normal pub."

As he finished his statement he looked her up and down, the way he looked at her made her feel a little dirty.

"Well then lucky for me, my boyfriend is meeting me here in another minute or two." Emily stressed the word boyfriend, still hoping to give the man a hint that she did not want to be bothered. He looked at her incredulously.

"Well then, perhaps I could keep you company until he gets here." He held out his hand, "David Blaine."

Emily ignored his hand, and answered

"I'll be fine," she stated, declining his offered hand, "I'm sure he will be here any minute."

The man sitting across from him laughed.

"Well why don't you come up stairs with me while you wait…I'll show you what it's like to be with a real wizard."

Emily looked at the man, shocked. Did this idiot expect her to just go upstairs and let him shag her. She could not believe the gall of the man sitting across from her, but she knew she would never sleep with him.

"You said your name was David ?" She asked, fighting back her anger. He nodded affirmative, as he reached for her hand. She pulled her hand away from him and continued.

"I would never go anywhere with you, so please just leave me alone." She stated this firmly, leaving no doubt she had no interest in him whatsoever.

David grabbed her wrist and snarled.

"You think you have a choice." He started to stand up, trying to drag her with him, "You muggles think you can go anywhere, do anything you want. Well you picked the wrong place today bitch."

Emily struggled to break his grip, but was not able to. She said. "My boyfriend,"

David laughed.

"The great Harry Potter." He glared at her, "You won't be the first girlfriend of his I have had…"

"The only problem I see." Emily recognized Ginny Weasley's voice, "Is that you never had me."

As Ginny finished she put her wand at the back of his head, "Why don't you let Emily go, before I have to hex you."

David let go of Emily's wrist and glared at Ginny.

"You filthy blood trait…"

He never got to finish his statement a red bolt fired out of Ginny's wand, and he fell to the floor, just as a couple of MLE officers arrived. They talked to Hannah Abbot who now owned the Leaky Cauldron, the then took Blaine away.

Ginny looked at Emily, as Blaine was being escorted away by the MLE officers. She was surprised to see that Emily did not seem that frightened. If anything Ginny saw more anger in her eyes than anything. Ginny admired Emily's courage, but Ginny knew she was out of her element. All Blaine would have had to do was hit her with a Stunning spell or worse an imperious curse. She knew under the imperious curse he would have been able to make Emily do whatever he wanted. Ginny pushed this out of her mind as she asked Emily if she could join her.

Emily nodded it was ok, and as Ginny sat down Emily said.

"You won't have to babysit me too long." She looked at the door, "Harry is meeting me here anytime now."

"About that," Ginny answered. Emily looked up as she finished, "Harry asked me to let you know he has to cancel lunch today."

Ginny could see by Emily's expression this bothered her. Emily looked away from Ginny and said sadly "I see…"

Emily started to get up. "I want to thank you for helping me out."

Ginny gently grasped Emily's hand and said.

"I know spending time with your boyfriends ex fiancé may not be considered normal, but I could use some company today." Ginny smiled, "I could probably get you invited to the burrow for dinner as a reward."

Emily laughed, remembering the last dinner she had with the Weasley's. She had had a blast, just talking with Ginny's family. She also remembered that Ginny had taken the time that afternoon to talk to her.

"I'll agree, But only if you will answer some questions I have, no matter what the question is."

Ginny agreed and Emily sat back down.

Over the next hour or so Ginny and Emily talked more like old friends. They talked about a wide range of things from Quidditch, it took Ginny a good fifteen minutes to explain the game to Emily. Once Emily understood the game she said she would love to see a game, Ginny told her she would arrange for her to attend one of her upcoming games. She laughed as she told Emily she would not have any problem getting Harry or Ron to come to the game with her. When she asked about Hermione Ginny laughed. She just said Hermione just did not get quidditch, though she would probably come to the game because Ron would be there.

Emily asked about Ron and Hermione, and was soon laughing with her as Ginny told her how Ron and Hermione's fights were the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Ginny smiled as she said that they did not fight like that anymore.

After the two topics of light conversation, Emily asked about some things she had heard over the few months she and Harry had been dating. It seemed that even though she was with Harry she had been on the receiving end of several rude comments. Emily said she also had noticed that she had been given some dirty looks at times.

Ginny started by explaining to her that "Not all wizards were good."

The questions Ginny had to answer about her world were some of the hardest she ever had to. Not because she did not want to answer the questions. The questions reminded her of the deep prejudices that existed in her world. Emily seemed to be a little bothered by the fact that people were judged by their blood status.

Ginny explained that not all Wizards felt that way, she used her family as an example with the statement.

"Look at my family, we are considered the biggest blood traitors in the wizarding world by some families."

Unfortunately, Ginny had to explain to Emily what a blood traitor was.

Ginny could see that the things she was telling Emily were bothering her, so she suggested they talk about something else. She had hoped to be able to move on to an easier subject, that hope was dashed when Emily asked.

"So is the Golden Trio one of those pureblood groups you mentioned?"

Ginny laughed nervously, She could not just ignore the question. Once again she could see that Harry had not told her everything about the war as Emily looked a shocked by her answer of.

"There is no way the Golden Trio would support any of that pureblood madness." Ginny answered emphatically.

"How would you know, are you a member of the Golden Trio?"

Ginny choked on her butterbeer and answered bitterly, "No I could never be a part of the Golden Trio."

"So then you have no idea what the Golden Trio Believes." Emily answered.

Ginny answered without thinking.

"I know exactly what the Golden Trio believes because…" She stopped herself before she finished.

Emily asked. "How would you know what they believe, you just said you could never be a part.."

Ginny interrupted her before she finished, "I know because the Golden Trio is Ron, Hermione and Harry."

Once again, Ginny knew she had given away something Harry had not told Emily by her deflated "Oh, I guess that would explain that."

Ginny saw that not being told about the Golden Trio bothered her, but she quickly covered it up by asking, "So what are the chances of having dinner at the Burrow?"


	14. Spectres of the past

Authors note: Sorry about the last posting of this chapter. I was writing another chapter that was extremely hard to write and wanted to concentrate on getting it finished. The good news is that Chapter 16 is now written. The bad news is that I am only three chapters ahead of what I am posting here. Hopefully I will be able to stay ahead so that you only will have to wait a week between postings.

This chapter is a bit of a short one, and a retelling of the events in several of the books, but from Emily's point of view. This chapter is very important in the development of Harry and Emily's relationship. As usual I would love feedback, if you like this story and chapter leave a review, if you hate it leave a review. I cannot improve as a writer if I do not hear from my readers....

13

Spectres of the past

Harry just glared at Ginny, trying to keep his anger in check, but not believing what she just said. After a few minutes of silence he asked.

"Why would you do something like that? You were just suppose to let her know I could'nt meet her for lunch! " He asked angrily. He immediately regretted this because Ginny fired up on him right away.

"I didn't do anything but answer her questions! How was I supposed to know you still hadn't told her anything about the war!" She jabbed him in the chest as she continued. "You told me you told her about the war!"

"I did tell her,,," Harry started to fire back, but he never got to finish.

"Yes you told her about the war," Harry felt like a little boy as she glared at him, fire burning in her eyes, "However you didn't tell her what part you played did you?"

Harry looked away from Ginny as he answered. "Since when is what I tell or don't tell my girlfriend any of your business?"

Big mistake Potter, he thought to himself as Ginny started to get up angrily. As she started to leave she said softly. "You're right Harry, its none of my business. If you want to push Emily away go right ahead."

Harry grabbed her arm as she started to leave the room.

"What do you mean?" The worry in his voice as he asked stopped Ginny dead in her tracks.

"I mean you're doing the same thing to Emily you did to me." She answered softly.

It was clear by the way Harry looked at her he had no idea what Ginny was talking about. So she continued to explain.

"You're shutting her out, and she likes it less than I did." Ginny shrugged out of his grasp and said as she left the room, "If you keep shutting her out you are going to lose her just like you did me."

Harry stared after his ex fiancé for a good twenty minutes, thinking hard about what she had just said to him.

***

Emily stepped into the living room of Harry's condo. The first thing she noticed as she walked in was what appeared to be a stone basin sitting on the coffee table. Harry was standing at the window looking out on the London skyline, he seemed to be deep in thought and unaware that she had arrived.

Emily was a little worried about Harry, when he had called her earlier he had sounded a bit depressed. She was not sure why he would be depressed, but it did concern her none the less. As she walked in he turned and smiled gave her weak smile.

"Thanks for coming." He motioned for her to sit down.

Emily sat down on the couch, she noticed that the basin was full of what appeared to be cloudy water. On the side it had symbols on it that Emily did not recognize. She noticed that Harry seemed a bit apprehensive. She wondered if he was going to end things with her. She had been pushing him about his past. She was not sure why, but he did not want to tell her about what he had done in the past.

She was bothered that he did not want to tell her what he did in the war that everyone kept mentioning. Even worse, she had no idea that Harry had even taken part in a war until Ginny let it slip out. As she thought about things, she had found out more about Harry's past from his ex fiancé than him. Emily felt a flash of anger as she thought about this. If he was going to break up with her for wanting to know about his history, then she didn't need him.

Harry must have seen something in her expression, she could see he was a bit apprehensive as he sat across from her. After about ten minutes of an uncomfortable silence, Emily started to get up, saying.

"Maybe coming over here wasn't a good idea."

Harry reached over and took her hand.

"Emily, please." Harry sighed softly as he continued. "I have been told by a reliable source I have been a bit of a pratt about some things."

Emily raised her eyebrows. She had a pretty good idea of who that source was, she had done a little bit of venting the other day when Harry was not able to make their lunch date. She had been just a bit irritated to find out that Harry was part of the "Golden Trio." She had asked him several times about them and he had lied to her, stating he knew nothing about them. Emily could not hold back her anger any more.

"I guess if you call lying to me being a pratt, then your source is right." Harry winced at the sharp tone of her statement. He opened his mouth to say something, but she didn't give him the chance.

"You knew all about the Golden Trio, yet you told me you knew nothing about them. Why?"

Harry looked at her, she could see a deep sadness in his eyes, as he began to speak.

"Emily, I owe you an apology." He pulled her back down to the couch gently as he continued. "The reason I did not tell you about the Golden Trio is…"

She could see this was going to be hard for him…she didn't have any idea what Harry, Ron and Hermione had done during the war, and now she was not sure she wanted to know. What could have been so terrible that it would affect Harry like this. Harry was one of the most kind and gentle men she had ever met. Would what he had done in the war change her opinion?

"Emily, I cannot talk to you about what the three of us did in the war, I am sorry it is just too…" He faltered.

Emily decided she was not going to force him, if it was that painful she had no right to make him go through it all again. Before she could tell him though Harry motioned to the stone basin on the table.

"This is a pensive."

Harry then explained to her what the pensive was. He explained it would allow her to see his memories of the past, if the pensive would work for her. He warned her that it would be like she was there with him. He also told her that he wanted to share this with her, if she still wanted him to.

Emily started to feel just a little bit of fear as he spoke. As he explained this to her his voice took on a haunted tone that she had never heard before. Harry asked if she had any questions before they began. She shook her head.

Harry then explained to her how the pensive worked, he also told her he would be in the memories with her, and any time she wanted to stop, they would. He also told her he thought it would be best if they could try and go through all the memories at one time. He told her he was not sure he would want to go back if they came out. She found herself wondering once again what could be so terrible.

Harry took her hand, and just whispered "Are you ready?"

She nodded her head, and the two of them plunged their heads into the cloudy liquid. She was shocked to find herself being pulled into the liquid, then she found herself looking at a much younger Harry with another young man in a graveyard. The older teen ager with Harry was asking the younger one

"Did anyone tell you the cup was a portkey?"

The younger Harry answered no and asked if this was part of the task. The other boy with him said he didn't know. After a few minutes the younger Harry said. "Someone's coming."

Emily looked and could see a short man walking towards them holding what appeared to be a baby. Suddenly the younger Harrry grabbed his forehead, clearly in agonizing pain. Then Emily heard a voice that she would never forget, she had never heard anything as cold and heartless as that voice as it said "Kill the spare"

Before she could take in what she heard the short man screeched "Avada Kadavra"

Emily felt her knees go week as a green light shot from the short man and struck the older teenager, throwing him back, he was lying next to the younger Harry, clearly dead.

Emily watched in horror as Harry was suddenly bound, and the ritual to bring Voldemort back to life was performed. She gasped as Harry was released and forced to duel then now resurrected lord Voldemort. She could not be sure about what she saw as the Harry and the Horrid man that called himself lord Voldemort battled with Harry, then before she knew it Harry was back in a clearing where a older man started to comfort him.

Over the next two hours, Emily was witness to some of the worst experience of Harry Potter's life. She had to fight back her tears as she watched Harry's godfather killed during the battle of the Ministry. She then learned all about lord Voldemort's past, as well as Horcruxes. She once again almost cried as she watched the silver bearded man killed at Hogwarts, then the battle that followed it was one of the fiercest she thought she would ever see. She was then touched as Ron and Hermione told Harry they would stick with him. She even cried when Harry broke up with Ginny.

The next thing she knew she was watching the wedding of Bill and Fleur Weasley. She had no trouble recognizing the Weasley family. She found herself wondering why Harry was sharing this memory with her, then when the what appeared to be a silver lynx of fox appeared at the wedding all hell broke loose, and she was suddenly in a alley when that memory faded.

Then she was with Harry as the fought their way out of some kind of courtroom. She still was not sure what the trial they had interrupted was about, but she knew they were after a locket worn by the same toad faced women that had tortured Harry in some of the earlier memories she had seen.

Then Harry and Ron were fighting, and Ron took off. They were visiting Harry's home town, when they were attacked by a giant snake. She realized that Harry and Hermione had barely escaped the man that called himself Voldemort.

Then Ron was pulling Harry out of a pond, then destroying the locket they retrieved from the toad faced woman. She did manage a short laugh as Hermione beat Ron when they returned to camp.

Again she was shocked as a Luna Lovegood's father tried to turn the three of them in. She knew that the trio barely escaped. The worse memory for her was the trio being taken to Malfoy Manor, and Hermione's subsequent torture by one of the scariest woman she had ever seen.

The second battle at Harry's old school nearly broke her heart. She now knew who Fred was, and felt bad about asking about him at the last Weasley dinner. Then Started to cry as Harry found out he was a Horcrux, and he too had to die.

She did not know how Harry would have been able to walk so calmly to his death, but he did. Kings Cross station with the now white haired and bearded wizard that had been killed was very different. She wondered if Harry had imagined the whole thing while he lay unconscious in the woods.

Then the final battle between Harry and Voldemort played out before her, and she felt herself being pushed out of the pensive onto the couch. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings and she then looked over to Harry, she saw that he was crying. She quickly took him into her arms and whispered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

It took about an hour for Harry to finally stop crying, he then looked at her and just asked her.

"Do you have any questions?"

Emily shook her head no. She let him know, she did not have any questions now, but she might later, once she had a chance to digest all that she had seen. She held Harry tight until he finally fell asleep.

Once Harry was asleep, she could not fall asleep. She could not believe all that she had seen that night. How could people have allowed all that she had seen happen? She wondered what other horrors had been committed that Harry was not aware of since he was on the run.

She remembered how the boy named Neville looked when he met up with Harry, he looked like he had lived through hell, and he was at school. Then all those kids that had to go into hiding for fear of what the masters in charge of the school would do to them.

She also was glad that Harry had Ron and Hermione, and understood why the three of them were so close. They had gone to hell with each other and managed to escape. She also wondered how Ginny could have broken up with Harry, he had given up his own life to defeat what she felt was one of the most evil men she had ever seen. As she fell asleep she was thankful for the dark haired young man next to her, even if the world he lived in scared the hell out of her.


	15. Harpies Vs Cannons

Authors Note: Sorry for the delay in posting, I have had a lot to real with in real life over the last couple of weeks. My youngest son graduating from High School, Finding out I have to move and things of that nature. I want to thank all of you for your patience and here is the next chapter in redemption for your enjoyment

Harpies Vs The Cannons

"'Moine, were going to be late." Ron whimpered as his wife started to kiss him passionately. Not that he was complaining, he thought as she deepened the kiss.

"So you would rather not…" Hermione started to rub Ron's back as she whispered the rest of what Ron would rather not do into his ear.

"Your killing me 'Moine" Ron whispered back as she pushed him on his back.

They were in too much of a hurry to make things last too long. As Ron was catching his breathe, he thought about the last week,

Kingsley had insisted that they both take some time off. Stating that after the ordeal they had both just been put through they deserved it. Hermione had protested since she was due in front of the Wizengamot in a week to argue the Walker case. Kingsley told her not to worry about that, he had arranged for the case to be delayed for a month in light of recent events. The only major case Ron was working on was a series of attacks on Muggleborns, and Kingsley would have Harry work on any thing that came up on that case.

Ron and Hermione made the best of their time off. Ron's only major complaint, and it was not really a complaint, was the Hermione had become insatiable. Ron was sure it had something to do with her being pregnant, but when he asked her about it all she said was that she could not resist him. She also pointed out since she was his wife she should not have to.

"I love you Mrs. Weasley." He said softly, "But we really should get going."

Hermione gave him a quick kiss, and slowly got out of bed.

After taking a quick shower together in order to save time, they quickly got dressed.

As they left for the Quidditch pitch Ron was relieved to see they were not as late as he thought they were.

***

Ron and Hermione were not the only ones that were running a bit late. Harry and Emily were also running a bit late as well, and for the same reason that Ron and Hermione were as well.

Harry and Emily had gotten much closer after he had shown her his memories of the war. As a matter of fact Emily had been staying at Harry's Condo so over the last couple of weeks they spent talking and just getting to know each other better.

In that two weeks Harry had decided that Emily was absolutely brilliant. She had Hermione's brains as well as Ginny's fiery temper and sense of humor, but she also had her own very gentle side that made her Emily.

Today was going to be a special day. Harry was taking Emily to see the one thing that Harry had loved all his life. He was taking her to see her first Quidditch match. Harry was delighted to find that Ginny had invited Emily to her upcoming match against the Cannons.

It seemed that on the day that Emily had gone to meet Ginny,she invited her to dinner at the Burrow that night. It seemed that Ron and Ginny had started to debate about the upcoming match against the Cannons. The debate ended up involving the entire Weasley family, and though he did not know all the details some kind of bet between Ron and Ginny.

Emily had made the mistake of stating that she really did not understand what the big deal was. At which point Ron and George promptly decided to educate her on the finer points of the game. The problem was after about twenty minutes it was clear that Emily still was not getting the concept of the game. Ginny saved her by suggesting that Ron and the rest of the Weasley's could not describe the experience of the game in words and suggested that Emily come to a game. She then invited Emily to the Cannons match her and Ron had bet on. Ginny also offered tickets to the rest of the Weasley clan as well.

So that is how Harry found himself explaining the game he loved to Emily. As they started to approach the stadium Emily suddenly stopped walking,

"Oh My.." She stated in a panicked voice, "I cannot believe I forgot about that."

She turned to Harry. "I have to go Harry, I forgot I have an interview today!"

Harry looked at her, dumbfounded. He had no idea what Emily was talking about, they had made sure she cleared her schedule for the day so she could go to the match. He knew that she had no appointments today. Then it hit him, and he started to chuckled. He realized that if she looked in the direction of the stadium she would see a large football field in the process of being torn down.

Harry muttered a brief spell and waved his wand at Emily. Once he finished she visibly relaxed. Before she could ask he said "Muggle repelling charm."

"Oh." Was all she said, and the two of them headed into the stadium.

***

Ginny sat quietly in a corner of the Harpies locker room in deep thought. Everyone on the team had their own pre game ritual. The two beaters would face each other and each would make a statement about beating the other team, and the other would respond with something along the lines of "Right", others would pray silently. Ginny liked to take a few minutes to calm her nerves before a game.

Even though she has been playing as a starting chaser for the Harpies for just about a year now, she was still nervous before the start of any match. Today her she was a bit more nervous than usual because in addition to her family watching her game today, Harry would be seeing her play for the first time.

Even though she knew Harry was with Emily now, she still wanted to impress him. She was nervous because of the dream she had the previous night. She had dreamed that Harry had been so impressed with her playing he dropped Emily and asked her to marry him. Ginny laughed to herself as she thought about the dream. She knew there was no way that would happen, but the eleven year old girl that was still there sometimes showed up hoped it would.

Shortly after the two of them had talked at the hospital, Ginny Weasley came to the realization that she was still in love with Harry Potter. Ginny did not have any illusions that anything would happen between the two of them. She had her chance with Harry and she blew it. In the process she also knew she had hurt Harry deeply. It broke her heart to hear how he had started to shut everyone out after they had broken up. It seemed that not only would Ginny would lose Harry, but the collateral damage was that the Weasley family would lose him as well.

Then as far as her family was concerned, and if she was to be honest with herself, a miracle happened. That miracle was Emily Watts. She pulled Harry out of the depths of the depression he had been in since Ginny had split up with him. It was Emily that had inspired Harry to come back to the Weasley family. This as far as Molly Weasley was concerned, made Emily a saint.

Ginny would not go so far as making her a saint, but she had to admit she liked her. She was good for Harry. The problem is that stupid git was slowly blowing it with her. The main thing was he was shutting her out. Ginny could tell that this was really beginning to bother Emily. Ginny knew that Emily was not the type of girl that would put up with things like that for long.

Ginny hoped that Harry had taken the advice she had given him earlier that week and shared some of his past with her. The fact that Harry had not been willing to tell her about his past seemed to be Emily's main issue with their relationship.

Ginny loved Harry Potter too much to let him ruin one the few good things that happened in his life. Like it or not, Emily was one of those good things.

Ginny looked up as Gwenog Jones started her pre game pep talk…

***

Emily felt her heart race as the lights on the stadium dimmed and the intro music for the Hollyhead Harpies started to play. Spotlights started to moving around the darkened stadium and an announcer started to speak.

"Witches and Wizards please welcome your Hollyhead Harpies. At Chaser Gwenog Jones,"

Emily held back her gasp of surprise as a regal black woman shot up from the ground on a…was that a broom? Emily turned to Harry and before she could ask he whispered to, "Yes that's a broom."

The announcer continued to introduce the rest of the team. Emily found herself a bit confused, as the music changed and the lights suddenly went red.

"And now your two time league MVP leading scorer, Chaser, Ginerva Molly Weasley!"

Harry looked surprised as Ginny suddenly shot up from the ground. The crowd was in a frenzy as she flew around the stadium, then joined the rest of the team. The formed up into a V formation and the team also completed a circuit around the stadium. As the team flew, Harry leaned to Ron and Emily heard him ask.

"Why didn't you tell me she was league MVP?"

Ron just shrugged and said "Guess it just never came up Mate.

Quidditch was like nothing Emily had ever seen before. The game was played in the air, and Harry explained to her the seekers were tossing what appeared to be a soccer ball called a quaffle. They would shoot the quaffle through one of three rings that floated at each end of the field. Harry explained each time the quaffle was shot through the rings the team would score ten points. She nearly had a heart attack when Ginny was almost knocked off of her broom by a ball Harry said was a bludger. Each team had two players with baseball type bats called beaters. They were to try and keep the bludgers from hitting their teammates, but it was ok if they hit the other team. She noticed two players circling above the game. They did not seem involved in the game, but were looking for something. Harry explained to her they were the seekers, and they were looking for the Golden Snitch. He then explained the game did not end until the Golden Snitch was caught by the seeker, and the Snitch was worth 150 points.

As the game continued, she enjoyed the fact that Harry would explain to her what was going on. He told her how the chasers would design different plays. He pointed out to her that one of the chasers would call the plays.

Just as he finished explaining that, she watched As Ginny caught the Quaffle from the harpies keeper. She then held up two fingers, then she dove quickly towards the ground. The other two chasers took positions above her, about thirty feet in front of her. Two of the three chasers from the Cannons dove down to intercept Ginny, as they got to her she quickly passed the quaffle to Gwenog Jones. As one of the opposing chasers flew up to help defend against Gwenog, Emily noticed Ginny suddenly break away from the Chaser guarding her with a fast turn towards the center of the field. As she flew towards the center of the field she began to climb. Emily was amazed at the timing of the play, as Ginny was climbing Gwenog quickly passed the qauffle to the chaser on the other side of the field. He caught it and quickly passed it to Ginny who was now just a little bit below him. She quickly turned back and started to fly towards the center of the field. It appeared that the keeper was going to have no problem blocking Ginny's shot, but suddenly Gwenog was flying next to Ginny in the opposite direction she was flying. Ginny quickly shovel passed the quaffle to Gwenog who scored quickly.

Harry gasped next to her and let out a cheer. He asked Emily if she was enjoying the match. Before she could answer a voice came from behind them.

"Watch the game." Emily turned and behind them was a surly young wizard. He glared at her as she looked at him. "What are you looking at?" He then said to his companion, "goddamn muggles."

She turned to watch the game ignoring him. As she watched the game she could hear the two men behind her complaining to each other. Especially when Harry would explain something that happened in the game to her. They seemed to finally get tired of Harry talking to her. One of the two, she was not sure which of them kicked the back of Harry chair and shouted menacingly.

"Why don't you stop bothering the rest of us and leave with your muggle bitch."

Harry turned around, and glared at the two men behind him. The men glared back, but the other one whispered loudly to his friend.

"Hey that's Harry bloody Potter."

The other man's eyes quickly found the scar on Harry's head. He laughed.

"Hey Potter, if you are so fracking great why are you here with a filthy muggle."

Emily did suddenly felt out of place. Hermione who was sitting on her other side gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and whispered. "Don't let these idiots bother you. You get them at every game."

The men heard Hermione, and the one that had just kicked Harry's chair spat at Hermione.

"Who are you calling an idiot!" His face then broke into a grin that suddenly made Emily very uncomfortable. He then looked Emily up and down, then did the same with Hermione and then said to his friend.

"Look not only do we got ourselves a muggle bitch, but a mudblood as well."

Ron having been watching the exchange started to get up.

The two men reached for their wands as he stood up.

"What are you going to do, Weasley?"

Hermione grabbed his arm, and started to whisper to him.

The other man said to his friend. "I've never had a mudblood before. Maybe we could take the muggle and the mudblood and."

As he spoke he reached down and grabbed Emily by the breast.

What happened next, happened so fast she had trouble following it all. The minute the man grabbed Emily, she heard Harry shout "Stupify." And the man fell down, stunned.

His companion shouted something she did not recognize, and she suddenly felt herself go rigid, not able to move. She heard scuffling, and then it sounded like Ron, Harry and Hermione fighting with several men. Not with fist, but from the way the crowd cleared around them, spells.

It was over in seconds. Then she heard Harry shouting at the men.

"Tell me what Curse you used!"

He sounded worried.

She was then felt herself being lifted up, and the uncomfortable feeling of being apparrated. As she felt the squeeze of apparition she thought to herself, I am really beginning to hate wizards…

***

The emergency ward at St Mungo's was crowded with injured Quidditch fans. In all her years of playing Quidditch Ginny a game had never been called due to problems with the crows. However today was a different story. Ginny did not know what started the riot in the stands, and by the crowds of injured in the emergency ward it had been extremely violent.

Ginny looked around the ward frantically. She knew that Ron, Harry, Hermione and Emily had been transported to St. Mungos. What she did not know is if any of them had been hurt.

As she looked through the crowded ward, she felt herself starting to panic, when she saw a flash of red hair coming from a treatment room. She quickly approached him, and saw he was talking with another wizard.

"We have 1 critical, 15 in serious conditions and 20 with relatively minor injuries."

Ron nodded as the other man continued to speak,

"Inspector Weasley," Ginny thought that the man looked a bit nervous, Ron nodded for him to continue. "We don't believe this was just a random event."

Ron looked at the other man, surprised.

"What makes you think that?" He asked.

Because we found these on one of the two that you and Harry took down."

The man handed Ron what appeared to be several pictures, however she could not see what they were of. Ron looked at the pictures and nodded.

"Thanks, I will look into this." Was all Ron said as he looked up and saw Ginny.

"Hey Ginny." He smiled as he greeted her.

"Don't you Hi me!" She answered testily, "Can't you three just go to a quidditch game without getting into trouble?" She paused, "What the hell happened?"

Ron quickly explained to her that two men had assaulted Emily, and when Harry went to stop him all hell had broken loose. Ginny gasped as he told her this. She asked if Emily was ok. Ron explained to her she was not, she had been hit by what everyone had believed was a body bind curse, but so far the healers had not been able to break the curse.

Ginny immediately started down the hallway to see if she could find Harry.

***

Harry was holding Emily hand, whispering to softly to her that she was going to be ok. He did not know what the curse was that she had been hit with. At first he thought it was a simple body bind curse. However when he had cast the counter curse, she had not been released and was still paralyzed.

He knew that Emily was aware of what was happening to her. She was able to move her eyes and she looked at him when he spoke to her. However he could see in her eyes that she was scared.

The healers were still trying to figure out what she had been hexed with. They asked Harry if he had heard the curse. Unfortunately he had not. Ron promptly sent two Aurors back to the stadium to see if they could find the wand that cast the spell. The hope being the healers would be able to use prior incantantum to identify the curse and then treat it.

Harry stroked Emily hair gently as he whispered to her once again that she would be alright.

Emily felt her heart pounding in her chest as she heard Harry whisper to her that she would be ok. She was grateful that he was staying by her side. However she could not ever remember being as frightened as she was now. What terrified her was not only was she unable to move, but she was also unable to speak.

She worried about what she would do if she was not ever able to move, or communicate with anyone ever again. Emily felt herself sinking into despair as Harry did his best to comfort her…

"Harry," Harry looked to the doorway of Emily's room when he heard Ginny softly whisper his name. He motioned for her to come in and she walked up to him slowly.

She looked at Emily and asked softly. "How's she doing?"

Harry sighed.

"They gave her a sleeping potion a few minutes ago." He answered, "Gin she is not able to move or speak, but when she is awake she knows what is going on."

Ginny gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. ""I'm sure they will find a counter curse."

Harry nodded and he felt tears start to fall down his cheeks. This just wasn't fair, he thought to himself. All we did was go to a quidditch match…

***

The aurors were able to find the wand that had cast the curse on Emily. The healers had cast prior incantum so they knew what the curse was, however it was something they had never seen before so they did not know what the counter curse was. To make things worse the man that had cast the curse was refusing to cooperate and he either did not know the counter curse, or he it was as he stated, he did not care about the fate of a muggle.

As the days went on, Emily was slipping further and further into despair. She had never known isolation like she was experiencing now. She had never known how important it was for her to be able to just simply talk to other people. Simple communication was something that she had just taken for granted.

After a couple of days she stopped letting the healers feed her. To prevent her from wasting away, the healers started to give the nutrients she needed with a potion intravenously. However since she was not getting any solid food she continued to lose weight.

Harry took a leave from the ministry, and was with her every day at the hospital. It was during this time that he met Emily's family. He wished he was able to meet them under better circumstances. What was hard on Harry was when her family started talking about her long term care, as it appeared that Emily's condition would be permanent.

It had been about five days, and Harry was saying his goodbyes to Emily. He kissed her forehead gently, and to his surprise, Emily squeezed his hand weekly. Harry immediately called for the mediwitch. It seemed that whatever the curse was, it was wearing off. Over the next two days Emily slowly was able to regain her movement, as well as being able to talk. However Harry knew that she would never totally recover from this attack, he could see it in her eyes….


	16. Private Investigations

Authors Note: First of all I would like to apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I just found out I have to move and have been tied up looking for a new place. This along with work, and other real life issues have lead to delaying this chapter. I am also having a really hard time with the chapter I am currently working on, so that has also kept my attention from uploading this chapter.

This is a transitional chapter, so please enjoy and let me know what you think.

I love reviews in the morning.

They smell like....Readers

15

Private Investigations

"Harry, I just don't understand why you can't just let this go?" Emily sounded worried as she spoke.

Harry looked at her. He had tried the I don't know what your talking about routine with her earlier and failed miserably. Over the last couple of weeks Harry had been looking into Thomas Knott and the other two members of the Wizengamot that had presided over Ron and Hermione's divorce hearing. He wanted to find out what was behind their attempts to hurt Ron and Hermione. So far his theory was they wanted her off the Walker case. Actually that was more than a theory now that he found out Malfoy offered not to seek the end of hers and Ron't marriage if she would just drop the Walker case.

The problem Harry had with that is that just was not something the Thomas Knott would do. He just was not smart enough to come up with something like that. Harry was convinced that Thomas Knott was nothing more than a puppet. Someone else was pulling the strings. The question was who.

He tried to hide what he was doing from everyone. So far the only person that had figured out what he was looking into was Emily. He smiled to himself, Emily was just too smart for her own good sometimes… a lot like another brilliant witch he knew. The problem was Emily was also starting to understand the politics of the Wizarding world. Harry sighed.

The main issue for the Wizarding world still centered around the old prejudices of blood purity. Even though Voldemort had been defeated, a lot of pure blood families still held on to their beliefs that only pureblood wizards were worthy of doing magic. The problem was, the pureblood movement had moved underground. However the attempt to abort Hermione's unborn child proved they were still just as dangerous as they were during Voldemort's rule. The fact that they were working under a veil of secrecy made them even more dangerous.

Harry not only intended to uncover those that were behind the attempt to kill Hermione's baby. He also intended to show to the entire wizarding world just how dangerous these fanatics were. So just two short days after Hermione was released from the hospital he approached Kingsley. Kingsley, however, would not sanction his investigation. He stated that he was making moves to have Knott removed from the Wizengamot for his actions, and that should be enough. He asked Harry not to start anything now. He pointed out that things were just starting to calm down from the whole fiasco with the Order of the Dragon, and the Wizarding world did not need another scandal right now. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Emily was able to guess what Harry had been up to very quickly, and she had been asking him over the last several days why he was looking into something that Kingsley had already told him to leave alone. Harry never really answered her. He did not want to get into more about the shortcomings of the Wizarding world with her. She had not said anything to him, but he sensed she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with his world. He did not want to tell her anything that would make her even more uncomfortable. However, she just would not let it drop. He looked at her, trying to think of a way he could answer her without getting into an argument. He was saved by a knock on his door.

As he went to answer the door, Harry wondered who it might be. Not many people knew where he lived. He kept it that way so he could have some amount of privacy. He could only think of a handful of people that knew where his condo was. As he opened the door to see who it was he was surprised to see Ginny standing at the door.

"Ginny!" He greeted her. Ginny Weasley was one of the last people he expected to be at the door. That was because he never told her where he lived. He had purchased the condo after they broke up, so she never had the need to know where he lived.

"Hi Harry." She answered brightly, she seemed to be waiting for him to invite her in. Harry did his best to hide his surprise as he said to her softly.

"Gin, Now really is not a good…"

Before he could finish, in typical Ginny fashions she let herself into the condo, and to his surprise she greeted Emily.

"Hi Emily." She paused, seeing Harry's confused expression, then she continued. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Harry looked at his girlfriend, angrily. She had no right to tell people where he lived, much less to invite them over. He turned to face her, but before he could say anything Emily answered coldly.

"Actually, I thought maybe Harry could tell you what he has been up to over the last week."

Ginny looked at Harry, clearly confused at Emily's answer.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the three of them. After a few minutes Ginny finally spoke up, looking at Harry as she spoke.

"Emily, perhaps this might be something that you and Harry should work out with each other."

Emily just shook her head and answered.

"Since this is something that I don't seem to understand since it is a Wizarding matter," Emily stated bitterly, "I thought maybe you could talk some sense into him, Since he clearly is not interested in what I have to say since I am not a witch."

Ginny looked at Harry and whispered softly, "What did you do now?"

Harry bit back his anger. Clearly, Emily had every intention of involving his ex in their disagreement. He sighed and answered loudly.

"I haven't done anything!"

Emily just glared at him.

Ginny could see that something was clearly bothering Emily.

"Harry," She said slowly, "I cannot help…"

Harry interrupted her hotly. "I didn't ask for you help Ginny."

"No, I did" Emily stated hotly.

Harry finally groaned. He was going to have to tell Ginny what was going on. So over the next forty five minutes Harry told Ginny how he has started looking into Thomas Knott. He explained to her he was trying to find out who was behind everything Knott was up too.

Ginny for her part, listened to everything Harry had said. She had learned a long time ago not to question Harry when he got his teeth into something, usually if Harry felt something was worth looking into, there was something to it. This was something that Ron, herself and Hermione learned after Dumbledore had been killed. Harry had felt that Malfoy was up to something that year and they had not listened to him. In the end Harry had been right, but by the time they realized he was, it was too late. Dumbledore had been killed, and Death Eaters were attacking Hogwarts.

"Why all the sudden interest in Thomas Knott?" She asked.

Harry looked at her as if she ware daft.

"Because he is trying to destroy Hermione!" Harry answered.

Ginny could not argue with his logic. She agreed something needed to be done, however she told Harry he should not do it alone.

Harry and Ginny talked a bit more about what Harry had been able to find out. Unfortunately he had not found much. This was causing him a bit of frustration as he knew Knott was not acting alone.

After listening to Harry and learning why he was looking into the Knott family, Emily decided she could not ask him to stop. So after listening to Harry explain to Ginny what he was able to find, but more importantly what he was not able to she finally offered a suggestion to him.

"Why don't you try and find something that Knott might have in common with other pureblood families?" She asked.

Harry looked at her and was about to ask Emily what good that would do.

As Harry and Emily talked Ginny was reviewing one of the reports that Harry had laid out on his desk, she then spoke.

"Harry, I think she might be on to something."

Harry looked at her.

"When Knott was arrested for Kidnapping, he was arrested with several other people"

She handed him the arrest report.

"None of those people got their own barrister, they were all represented by Draco Malfoy."

Harry took the report out of her hand. Emily was right, it appeared that there was one thing that the pureblood's might have in common. He had a lead. The challenge was now what to do with it.

***

Hermione sighed heavily as she read the Divorce decree over once again. She knew that it was legal just by the fact that the Goblins had insisted on Her and Ron getting separate vaults. What bothered her was that not only would she and Ron have to wait to get remarried until after the Walker case, but Draco now had a precedent to support his argument in the Walker case. She now not only would have to argue that the marriage contract was unlawful, but also the Pureblood Marriage act as well.

The good news is that Hermione was confident that she would be able to make and win her case in front of the full Wizengamot, which meant that she and Ron would be able to get married again. They would have to get remarried since the Wizengamot did enter a judgment for the divorce. Molly nearly had a stroke when she learned they had been divorced. That all started with the horrible article that Rita Skeeter had printed in the Daily Prophet. Hermione fought back her anger as she remembered the article, and Molly's reaction.

**Ronald Weasley divorces Hermione Granger**

**By Rita Skeeter.**

_**Yesterday Ronald Weasley successfully divorced his wife Hermione Granger. Mr. Weasley petitioned for the divorce under the Pureblood Marriage Act, stating that his marriage to Miss Granger was not a legitimate marriage since she was not a Pure blood witch. Sources close to Mr. Weasley state that Mr. Weasley may have been bewitched by Miss. Granger into marrying her. **_

_**Miss Granger has a history of using less than scrupulous methods to trap unsuspecting pureblood wizards into relationships with her. As reported by this reporter it is believed that Miss Granger had used love potions on both Harry Potter and Victor Krum during her fourth year at Hogwarts. **_

_**In shocking disclosure during the trial Mr. Weasley learned that Miss Granger was pregnant with his child. Rather than be trapped into a marriage to Miss Granger he successfully had the court order the termination of her pregnancy. One must wonder what charges will be filed against Miss Granger for bewitching Mr. Weasley into a marriage he clearly did not want. Hopefully charges will be filed quickly as it is clear that Miss Granger will go to any lengths necessary to get a man. **_

After reading the article Molly Weasley had shown up at their flat in a rage. She had been shocked when Hermione answered the door.

"What are you doing here?" She shrieked.

Hermione was surprised at the question and answered.

"I live here Molly…"

"Don't you call me Molly, not after what you did!" Molly shouted as she stepped into the flat. Hermione was clearly shocked at Molly's anger, worse she had no idea what she could have done to make Mrs. Weasley so angry with her.

Molly turned to face Hermione and angrily slammed the Prophet down on the table. Hermione felt the heat of her own anger starting to burn. How could Molly think that she would do anything the article stated in the article, Molly asked her icily.

"Is this true?"

Hermione fired back, shocked. "How could you ask me that?"

"So you were not pregnant and allowed my son to have it terminated?" Molly was still clearly angry, but it appeared she was not angry at Hermione, "I thought I raised my son better than this."

"Mrs. Weasley, what is it I am suppose to have done?" She asked. Molly was not making any sense.

"Were you pregnant?" Molly asked softly.

Hermione smiled as she answered. "Not were, I still am."

Molly glared at Hermione, her answer seemed to make her angrier. "When were you planning on telling your mother in law? Why did I have to find out in an article in the Prophet."

Hermione now understood why Molly was angry. However normally the fact that one is going to have a baby is not plastered all over the paper. Hermione explained to Molly that she wanted to wait until the first trimester before announcing that she and Ron were going to have a baby.

She then had to explain to her that her and Ron were divorced. She quickly explained that neither she or Ron wanted the divorce, that this was something Malfoy had done. Once Molly was informed of this she said that she and Ron would have to get remarried as soon as possible. Hermione sighed sadly as she answered.

"I am afraid that's not possible right now."

Molly looked at Hermione as if she had lost her mind.

"Why not dear. You just told me you and Ron did not want this divorce."

"Because right now it is not legal for a Pure Blood to marry a muggleborn." Hermione answered sadly, waiting for the exploision that was to come. Hermione promised Molly that once the law was changed, she and Ron would in fact remarry.

Since that meeting with Molly Hermione had gone back to preparing for the Walker case. She smiled as she finished her notes. Malfoy would not know what hit him…

***

Eric Bledsoe threw down the latest edition of the daily profit angrily. After taking two deep breathes in and effort to calm himself down, he looked up at Draco.

"I told you that you were wasting your time with this personal vendetta against Granger." He pointed at the prophet, "Your little fiasco has done more to damage our cause than the help it."

Draco looked at the offending newspaper sitting on Bledsoe's desk. He knew what was in it. The Wizarding world was outraged at the attempt to terminate Grangers pregnancy. The headline he was looking at read "Is this how we treat our Heroes?" Draco didn't bother to read the article, he knew what it said without having to read it.

"My Fiasco?" Draco questioned harshly, "I didn't ask to have Granger's pregnancy terminated, Knott did that all on his own."

Bledsoe glared at Draco, he wanted to tell the arrogant bastard that if he had not sought to dissolve the Granger bitch's marriage then Knott would not have had the chance to terminate her pregnancy. However, he fought back the urge and finally just said.

"Knott will be dealt with." He did however point out to Draco, "You do understand that this action of yours accomplished nothing? As a matter of fact it has done more to hinder our cause than help it."

Draco gave a brief chuckle before he answered.

"I don't see it that way." He stated calmly. "As a matter of fact I believe this has actually helped our cause."

Bledsoe raised his eyebrows. "Please, enlighten me."

Draco smirked as he answered. "With the Wizengamot granting my motion and dissolving the marriage between Granger and Weasley it has set a precedent that makes the Pureblood Marriage Act an enforceable law. With this precedent the courts have no choice but to uphold that law."

Bledsoe stared at Malfoy, dumbfounded. He had underestimated Draco.

"So what you are saying…"

"With this judgement all marriages between muggleborns and pure bloods are effectively dissolved as well."

***

Harry smiled as he thanked Bill Weasley for letting him look at Eric Bledsoe's financial records. Through taking Emily's first suggestion he found a link between Draco Malfoy, Theodore Knott an Eric Bledsoe, and to his pleasant surprise a David Blaine. It seemed they were linked in several different cases. He was delighted to see that Malfoy was representing Blaine in another marriage contract matter. This was the same kind of case that Malfoy was involved with Thomas Knott.

The challenge Harry was facing was to find out what Eric Bledsoe had to do with everything. The only thing he had linking Bledsoe to Blaine and Knott was he was arrested with them when they rescued Katrina Walker the night she was kidnapped. Harry spent several days researching papers trying to find some other link between Bledsoe and the other three. So far he had run into a dead end.

Then once again his brilliant girlfriend had come up with an idea that he would have never thought of. She suggested that he follow the money. At first he was confused at her statement. She explained that maybe the link with Bledsoe had more to do with money than anything else. She suggested that he find out as much as he could about Eric Bledsoe and then see if there was some kind of monetary link between the four of them.

Over the next day Harry learned a lot about Eric Bledsoe. It seemed that the Bledsoe family was a very old and prominent pureblood family. Unlike some of the other Pureblood families, the Bledsoe's preferred to stay in the background. The family never came out in support of any cause.

However what they did publicly, and what they did with their money were two entirely different things. It seemed that the Bledsoe's gave financial support to several Pureblood causes. They also provided financial support for Thomas Knott in the Wizengamot, they also through a bogus scholarship had paid for both Draco Malfoy and David Blaine to attend school. Harry now had his paper trail…

***

"How can you not be worried?" David Blaine shouted at Bledsoe. "Potter spent the entire morning at Gringotts, looking at your financials!"

Bledsoe looked at Blaine calmly. He knew was already aware that Potter had reviewed his financials. A matter he planned on taking up with the Goblins in the morning. He would lodge his protest, however he knew Potter would claim he needed to see the records as part of an ongoing investigation. Potter was not stupid. He would have had a warrant to review his records.

Potter had become a bit of a nuisance. Over the last few days Potter had been looking into his relationship with Knott, Malfoy and Blaine. Bledsoe had underestimated Potter. He never expected Potter to find his connection to the other three. At first he wondered how Potter had made the connection. He then remembered he had been picked up with Knott and Blaine. It was stupid of him to have Malfoy represent all of them. He should have had the others get their own barrister. However that was neither here nor there.

"I am not worried because I have done nothing illegal." Bledsoe answered.

Blaine laughed. Bledsoe knew he had his hands in what he had been up to. Bledsoe had decided that it would be a good idea to not only challenge muggleborn marriages in the courts, but to also make the muggleborn afraid to have relationships with Pure Bloods. Hence the attacks against Muggleborns over the last few months.

"Of course you haven't" Blaine said hotly, "As usual you have someone else do your dirty work."

"What do you suggest we do David?" Bledsoe asked.

Blaine smiled, he was hoping that Bledsoe would ask.

"I think it's time that the great Harry Potter be taken out…"

Bledsoe smiled. He wanted Potter killed just as much as Blaine. He just did not want Potter's blood on his hands.

"Fine. I leave the matter in your hands."


	17. In the Line of Duty

**Author'S Note**: My next updated is going to be delayed because I am moving this week. I will update with the latest chapter as soon as I am unpacked and have my system up and running again. I am also getting where I no longer have chapters written ahead, I only have one more completed chapter, and I am working on another chapter right now. However these last two chapters have been very hard to write, between getting ready to move and what happens in those chapters I am having a very hard time writing them. I know what is going to happne, it's just telling the story the right way has been difficult and I hope I am able to pull it off. So for the fun of it tell me if you can guess what happens in the next two chapters. You should have a major clue after reading this chapter!

16

In The Line of Duty

Unlike most many Hospitals in the metropolitan area, the emergency ward of St. Mungos Hospital was never really very busy. That's not to say that it did not have its fair share of patients. However the patients at St. Mungo's emergency ward were stricken with different types of ailments and injuries than the patients of the Muggle hospitals emergency wards. The patients at St. Mungos were in most cases suffering from the effects of a spell, curse or hex that had gone wrong. In most cases the injuries were not life threatening, so the patients were treated in a calm and orderly fashion.

That is not to say that the healers at St. Mungos did not every so often get a trauma case. However these cases were far and few between so most of the wizards in the waiting room were shocked when the doors to the emergency ward suddenly burst open, those in the waiting room knew right away that this was no normal case, and whoever was being bought in was fighting for their life.

Once the doors burst open a gurney was wheeled in at a breakneck pace, on man pushing the gurney was holding up a bag of clear fluid that was attached to the man on the gurney's arm with some kind of tube. The patient was being attended too by what appeared to three muggle paramedics. One of them was pushing the gurney; the second appeared to be pumping some kind of bubble that was attached to the patient's mouth. A third red haired man dressed in what appeared to be Aurors robes straddled the man on the gurney and he was desperately pushing down on the patient's chest. He would count to four then the paramedic would pump the bubble he was working on.

A fourth man ran up to the man in the gurney with what appeared to be a case with metal paddles attached to it. As he ran up to the other three they stopped moving, and the man set the case down and rubbed some kind of liquid on the paddles and rubbed them together. While he was rubbing the paddles, the red haired man, who looked a lot like Ron Weasley, tore the patient's shirt. To those watching this, it appeared that the man on the gurneys chest had been torn apart. They could see bloody bandages on around the chest. As soon as the man's chest was exposed, the fourth man shouted.

"Clear!"

The red head jumped off the gurney, and then the man pushed the paddles against the man's chest. There was a sound of some kind of popping sound and the patient on the gurney seemed to jump a bit. The man with the paddles said.

"Nothing,"

The red head jumped back on the gurney and again began pressing on the man's chest. However during the brief time he was off the gurney those in the waiting area were able to see who the man on the gurney was. Several of them stared shocked as Harry Potter was suddenly surrounded be St. Mungos healers and wheeled back into the treatment area.

The heard who they now had no doubt was Ron Weasley shouting "Were losing him!"

***

"What do you mean you have to face him alone?"

Emily looked at Daniel, her eyes showing that she was clearly angry.

Before Daniel could read, however the director interrupted.

"No," He walked up to Emily, clearly agitated. "Emily you've just found out your best friend has to face a madman and he probably will not live. Your both sad and a little hurt at this news."

Emily fought back her urge to scream. They had been rehearsing this particular scene for the last two days. The problem was that she and director did not agree on how her character would react to the news her best friend had to face a madman intent o killing him. When she read this part of the book, she felt that her character would be angry about the news her best friend wanted to once again go it alone. The director believed she would be sad and apprehensive. They had been rehearsing the scene for two days, and Emily just could not bring herself to play the scene the way her director currently envisioned it.

One of the main issues is that Emily and the original director for this film had talked at length about how her character would have dealt with the news she had just been given. The original director had agreed with her, that she should be angry and hurt that her friend would want to leave her behind. However they had to change directors in the middle of the filming of this movie because the original director had suffered a major heart attack and was not able to complete the project.

Emily did not like Quenton. She thought he was just a bit of a pompous ass. He refused to listen to anything his actors had to say, and made it clear he felt that the way the characters had been portrayed in the other five movies was completely wrong. He also made it clear he was going to fix those mistakes, and it did not matter if it would be a disaster for the film series.

None of the cast liked the direction he was taking the film in now. He had them re shoot almost a dozen of the scenes that had already been shot with the films original director, whom had directed the other five films. She had been fighting with Quenton from the first day he told her she had been playing Hattie, her character, all wrong.

She had had enough. She decided it was time that she gave the pompous little toad a piece of her mind. She opened her mouth to speak, however before she had a chance to say anything in she hear the pop of someone apparating. Then she saw Ron Weasley out of the shadows. His hair was in completed disarray, and she gasped as she saw the blood on his Aurors robes.

"Ron," she gasped. The cast and crew turned to look the new arrival. Quenton glared at Ron and started to shout.

"Who the hell are you, this is a closed…"

He never finished, the door to the set burst open and two uniformed bobbies walked in and approached Ron. When she saw the two bobbies Emily knew something terrible had happened.

"Ron," Emily fought back the panic she felt building in her chest.

"Emily, It's Harry."

Emily fell to her knees, Daniel ran up to catch her before she fell the rest of the way down as she cried to herself. "No, no this isn't happening."

***

Ginny felt herself relax as the warm water from the shower hit her face. After the days hard practice she needed to relax. Gwenog had introduced a news series of plays and was pushing the team hard to get them right. So far, they had not been able to complete the plays to Gwenog's satisfaction. Because of this, the mornings practice had gone on much longer than normal, and Ginny was paying for it. She ached all over.

As she felt the warm water cascade over her, she also found herself thinking about the events of the last two months. More to the point, she found herself thinking about Harry Potter. Over the last month or so, she and Harry had a chance to really talk, and she found that she liked having Harry back in her life, even if it was just as friends.

She finally was able to tell him about what she had felt when he had taken off to find Voldemort's Horcruxes, as well as the hell that was her sixth year at Hogwarts. He told her about the endless nights spent with Ron and Hermione as fugitives. In talking with each other about those times, they also had a chance to talk about what had gone wrong with their relationship.

The problem was, Harry was not learning from the mistakes he had made with her. As a matter of fact he was making all the same mistakes again with Emily. She knew he was falling for her. She also knew that Emily was getting tired of Harry's shutting her out. No matter how many times she told Harry he needed to let Emily in, he still kept her at an arms length. It was like he was afraid if they got too close, someone would take her away from him.

At times Ginny found herself wishing that she and Harry could have another chance. The more she thought about what happened with her and Harry, the more she felt like she had made a huge mistake in letting him go. Ginny knew that it was too late for that. Harry had moved on. Ginny sighed as she shut the shower off, maybe it was time that she moved on as well she thought.

She wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the locker room. The minute she stepped into the locker room she knew something was wrong. Instead of the sounds of the normal horseplay that went on in a locker room, the room was quite. At first it appeared that the locker room was empty, as she did not see any of her teammates changing.

She looked to see where her teammates might be, and to her surprise they were all huddled around a radio, listening intently to something that sounded like a news broadcast. Ginny slowly approached the rest of the team. As got closer to the table, she could hear the announcer saying something about St. Mungos, but she still could not clearly make out what he was saying.

Gwenog saw her approaching the table, and broke away from the team to intercept her.

"Ginny, why don't you come to my office." Gwenog took her arm gently and steered her away from the table. Ginny shook out of Gwenog's grasp and looked at her. The look in Gwenog's eyes told her that something was wrong.

"What's happened?" Ginny asked.

"Not here," Gwenog answered, "lets go to my office."

As Gwenog finished, she heard the announcer on the radio clearly for the first time.

" We need to stress that at these reports are unconfirmed." The announcer paused, and then continued. "The daily prophet this afternoon is reporting that Harry Potter has been killed during…"

Ginny felt her legs buckle, and she collapsed onto the locker room floor…

***

Hermione was happy to be back to work. She needed the time off that Kingsley had given her, but in her absence quite a bit of work had piled up and now required her attention. She spent most of her first morning back reading through arrest reports from the MLE. The MLE handled the general day to day policing in the Wizarding world. They responded to the domestic disturbances, cases of magic being used in front of muggles and the general problems that came up between wizards. The Aurors handled the more serious offences and cases that involved the use of dark magic.

She would read the arrest reports written up by the MLE officers. After reading the reports, she would then complete her own reports. She would then recommend, either charges being filed against the offending witch or wizard and assign the case to one of the prosecutors in her office, or simply recommend no charges. Unless the offense involved the injury of another wizard or muggle, she rarely recommended charges be filed, except in the cases involving theft. In those cases she would always recommend charges.

She knew that she was not saving the world with today's work, however that did not matter. Hermione enjoyed her work. Hermione knew that in the long run her work did make a difference. After finishing a report that involved a dispute between a wizard and his girlfriend, she recommended no charges be filed against the witch. It seem she had caught her boyfriend in bed with another witch. The curse she used was minor, and no one had been seriously hurt. Hermione felt no reason to put the couple through anything more than they already had been. As she set the file aside, she noticed that the outer office had become very quite.

She quickly checked to time to make sure she had not worked past the end of the work day. Hermione was known to lose track of time once she started on her reports. She noted it was just after lunch. She looked out the window of her office, and saw that most of her office staff was huddled around one desk. What's this all about, she wondered as she stepped into the outer office to see what was going on.

As she approached the group she heard them talking. She heard something along the lines of "He was so young."

As she approached, her secretary looked at her, surprised.

"Hermione what are you doing here?" She asked clearly confused at seeing Hermione in the office.

"Last time I checked, I worked here." She replied sarcasticly.

She saw that her secretary was hiding something behind her back. Hermione felt a flash of anger. She held out her hand.

"What are you hiding Bea?" She asked.

Bea looked down at the floor but did not answer her.

"Bea!" Hermione snapped.

Bea's eyes suddenly went wide, as if she had just realized something important, she then said softly.

"You don't know." She gasped.

"Know what?" Hermione felt her heart drop as she asked.

Bea handed her the Daily Prophet. Hermione gasped as she read the headline.

_**Harry Potter Killed…**_

_*****  
**_

Emily sighed heavily after looking at her watch. Had it only been fifteen minutes? It seemed like she had been sitting in the waiting area for hours. Emily had asked Ron to tell her what had happened. All he would tell her is that Harry had been seriously hurt and that he was at St. Mungos. He would not answer her when she asked if he was going to be alright.

Once the arrived at the hospital, they had to fight their way through a crowd of reporters. They all shouted questions at Ron. She tried to ignore the throng of reporters, but then she heard a question that made her heart stop. The reporter asked Ron if it was true that Harry Potter was dead. Ron did not answer the question, he just shoved his way past the reporter, pulling Emily with him. When she asked the same question, he did not answer her.

After a short walk, they arrived at the waiting area. Ron apologized, and told her he needed to report in to the ministry and he would be back shortly. Since then she had been trying to keep herself from going crazy, waiting for some news.

After a few minutes she heard the lift open, and she looked up to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley step out of the lift. Mrs. Weasley looked around the room, but it appeared she did not see Emily. Emily started to raise her hand to get the Weasley's attention, Mrs. Weasley suddenly walked towards the hallway. Emily saw that Ron had returned from reporting in. Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug and she heard her ask.

"Have you heard anything yet?"

Ron answered.

"The healers are still working on him. They said he was in extremely critical condition. That's all I know right now."

Emily felt a quick flash of irritation. Why hadn't Ron told her any of this, before she realized before she got too angry that Ron probably had just talked to the healers and was on his way to let her know how Harry was doing. He would come and tell her what was going on as soon as he finished with his family.

As Ron was talking with his parents the lift opened again, and Hermione stepped out. She looked frantic. She stepped out of the elevator, and looked at Ron, Emily could see tears streaming down her cheeks. Hermione just looked at Ron, and seeing his expression she said.

"Please god, No."

Ron looked at his wife, and opened his arms. Hermione ran to him and buried her head in his chest, Emily could see that she was crying. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took the two of them into her arms, trying to comfort Hermione.

After a few minutes, Mr. Weasley told them they should sit down. Emily looked around and did not think there were enough chairs by her to sit everyone. She looked around, but noticed the Weasley's were heading into another waiting area across the hall. They had not seen her. She got up to join them, but decided she would wait until Ron came to get her. She did not want to intrude on what was clearly a private family moment.

Over the next few minutes, the waiting area across the hall filled with red haired Weasleys. As a new family member would arrive, they would greet each other. Giving each other comforting hugs, and get updated on Harry's condition. They would then take a seat and join the vigil. Emily looked on sadly as the Weasley's talked to each other quietly.

Once again the lift door opened, and Ginny stepped out of the lift. She was obviously very upset. She looked around the lobby, and again either she did not see, or notice Emily sitting in the corner. She saw her family and quickly went into the waiting area they were at. Hermione immediately took her into her arms, giving her a comforting hug, and drying the tears from her eyes.

She had hoped that once Ron had finished letting his family know how Harry was doing, that he would come and let her know. However it was clear that was not going to happen. Emily sighed and stood up. She walked up to the information desk at the end of the hallway.

As she approached the witch behind the desk looked at her, a bit put off.

"Can I help you?" She asked as she started to fill out a form.

"I was wanting to know if there was any word on Harry Potter?"

The witch looked at her skeptically, and answered.

"And what is your relationship to Mr. Potter?"

"I am his girlfriend." Emily answered.

The witch muttered under her breathe, "Yeah right." She then said louder.

"I'm sorry but we can only give patient information to immediate family members."

Emily answered softly.

"You must not have heard me. I am Mr. Potters girlfriend and…"

The witch responded.

"I doubt it."

Before Emily could answer the receptionist continued.

"I don't know what you are playing at miss, but Harry Potter would never stoop so low as to date a muggle, so why don't you just leave before I have security help you out."

Emily stared at the receptionist, shocked at what she just heard. Emily stepped back, she did not want to make a scene. There really was no point to her staying was there? She thought to herself. She would just call Hermione later and find out how Harry was doing. The receptionist was right. She had no business being here. After all she was just, what did the witch just call her, a muggle. She turned and walked over to the lift, and pressed the button that summoned the lift. As she waited for the lift she felt tears slowly roll down her cheeks. Emily swiped at the tears with her hands, angrily. She would not give that bitch the satisfaction of making her cry…

Ginny was in a fog. At least Harry was still alive. Ron had quickly informed her that the news about Harry's death was wrong. Once again the daily Prophet had not confirmed anything before they printed it. Ron did tell her that Harry was in extremely bad shape, and that the healers were working on him. He also told her that the healers had bought in a Muggle trauma specialist to help with his non magical injuries, which were pretty extensive.

As she waited she looked around and saw all of her brothers were here. Hermione was sitting with Ron, she looked pale and frightened. Her mom was with her father, and George, and Charlie were talking quietly amongst themselves. Bill had his arms around Fleur, giving her comfort as well. The person that was missing was Emily. Ginny wondered why she was not here. Maybe they just had not informed her what was going on. She would have to ask Ron about that when she looked over to the lift.

She was shocked to see Emily waiting by the lift, she looked a wreck. Ginny could see that she was crying. The thing that got Ginny's attention was she was getting ready to leave. Why would she be leaving? More importantly, how did she get here?

Ginny quickly walked over to Emily and whispered softly.

"Emily?"

Emily looked up. She quickly wiped her face and tried to smile.

"Oh, Hi Ginny." She pushed to call button for the lift again and continued. "Can you tell Ron thank you for coming to get me and just ask Hermione to call me when you hear something ok."

Ginny looked at Emily, shocked.

"You're leaving?"

Emily smiled at Ginny sadly.

"Well it seems that Muggles are not allowed. I was asked to leave, and I really do not want to make a scene."

"Who asked you to leave?" Ginny hissed angrily. Emily did not answer but looked back at the welcome witch, whom was now glaring at her angrily. She also whispering to one of the security wizards, who also was looking at the two woman.

Ginny followed Emily's gaze.

Ginny glared at the security guard as he approached them as he asked softly if there was a problem. Ginny quickly informed him that there was not. He then looked at Emily and asked if she was leaving.

Ginny fired up on him. "No she is not leaving."

The guard seemed taken back but did respond calmly. "We have asked…"

Before he could finish Ron interrupted him. "Is there a problem here?" the guard turned to Ron and answered curtly. "Sir, I think you should return to your seat."

Ron looked at the guard, clearly amused and answered. "I don't think so." He showed the guard his Auror's badge and said. "I am inspector Weasely. What is the problem.

The guard then motioned to Emily and informed Ron that she was asked to leave when she started nosing about Harry. He also made a couple of rude remarks regarding muggles Ron immediately turned crimson. He could not believe what he had just heard. He had completely forgotten about Emily. How long had she been sitting by herself? Ron informed the guard that since Emily was in fact Harry girlfriend that she had every right to ask about Harry's condition. He also asked for his name, as well as the name of the receptionist. After getting that information he informed both of them that he would be informing both the minister of magic and the head of St. Mungos about how they had treated Emily. He made the comment that he hoped they would lose their jobs. He then escorted Ginny and Emily back to the waiting area.

Ron could not believe he had completely forgotten about Emily, as the rest of the Weasley's did their best to comfort her. However Ron knew it was already too late. Emily had to endure not only a couple of agonizing hours waiting for news about Harry by herself, but also the rudeness of the receptionist. As he thought about this, the healer that had been treating Harry came out and approached the family. Ron took one look at him and knew whatever the news was, it was not good.


	18. Black

17

Black

_I know someday you'll have a beautiful life_

_I know you'll be a star_

_In somebody else's sky_

_But why? Why? Why can't it be_

_Why Can't it be mine_

_Black_

_Pearl Jam_

Ron quickly approached the healer with Ginny and Emily. He felt someone take his hand and he knew that Hermione had also joined him. The healer looked at Emily, but before he could say anything Ron informed him that she was Harry girlfriend and Harry would want her to be informed of his condition.

The healer took the four of them into a private area. Once in the area the healer explained that Harry was in extremely critical condition. He also went on the explain the challenge that the healers were facing was that his injuries were not magical in nature. He also told him that at the time that Harry was bought into the hospital he had several severe internal injuries and they had to call in a Muggle Trauma Specialist to help with his treatment.

The reason it had taken so long for the healer to see the family was that Harry had to be treated the muggle way. He explained there just was not enough time for the potions to take hold and control his internal bleeding, so Harry had been in what the Muggles call surgery for the last three hours.

He informed them that the surgery had gone well, and that Harry was now stable but critical condition. He also said that Harry was expected to make a complete recovery which came as a relief. Ron left Emily and Hermione alone as he went to update the rest of his family on Harry's condition.

As Ron went to update his family on Harry's condition, Emily and Hermione watched, a uncomfortable silence between them. Things with Emily and Hermione had never been awkward, however Emily knew that Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable with her. They both knew why things were suddenly awkward, it was the fact that Emily had been alone while Hermione had enjoyed the comfort of her family. It was clear to Emily that the receptionist had been right. Emily clearly did not belong in this world.

This realization should not have come as a shock to her, but it did. She had hoped that maybe she and Harry could find a bridge between their worlds. However the events of this day made it clear to Emily that there would be no bridge between the two worlds, and she did not belong in Harry's world.

Suddenly Emily needed to get away, she didn't belong here. She turned to Hermione and said softly.

"Tell Harry I'm glad he's ok."

Hermione got a confused look at her statement. Before Hermione could say anything she continued.

"I've got to go." She started to walk towards the lifts.

"you're leaving?," Hermione grasped her shoulder.

The lift arrived, and to Hermione's surprise she stepped into the lift without saying anything. As the doors closed she asked Hermione to tell Harry she loved him.

***

Hermione watched as Harry woke up. She saw that at first he was a bit confused, he then recognized where he was and looked at her. He tried to speak, but found it difficult because his throat was very dry. Hermione handed him a glass of water, and he took a deep sip, then nodded to Hermione gratefully.

"How long have I been out?" He asked softly.

"Four days" Hermione answered.

Harry looked around the room. He could see the room was filled with flowers and cards from well wishers. As he looked around the room he asked.

"What happened?"

Over the next ten minutes Hermione explained that he was caught in an explosion on his last raid. She told him the device used was a muggle device, and that he was lucky that whoever set it up did not know what they were doing, or he would have been killed. She explained the device went off when he approached the door, and is should have gone off after he opened the door. The door had stopped most of the shrapnel that would have killed him. Even so, he was still seriously injured.

She also told him that the tip off that sent him to that particular location was a set up. Ron was investigating and though he did not have proof, he believed that the set up had to do with Harry's looking into Eric Bledsoe and Malfoy.

After she finished explaining what happened he asked.

"How's Emily doing?"

Hermione looked away from him as he finished the question. She tried to change the subject.

"Let's worry about getting you better." She answered.

Harry felt his heart drop as Hermione finished. He looked at her and he knew right away something was wrong.

"Hermione," He asked, "What's going on?"

Hermione bit her lower lip, Harry knew this was a sign the Hermione was nervous. Why would a simple question, make her nervous, he thought to himself.

After an uncomfortable silence that lasted a few minutes, Harry asked gently.

"Hermione?"

She looked at him, and he knew her answer before she said anything, he could see it in her eyes.

"Harry," She said gently, "We have not heard from Emily since the day you were bought to the hospital."

That did not sound like the Emily that Harry knew. Before he could ask what happened Hermione continued.

"Harry, I am so sorry. There was a bit of a.."

Hermione explained to Harry what happened to Emily while she was waiting for him the day he was bought in. She apologized over and over again for not watching out for Emily that day. She was clearly upset about the events. When she finished explaining, Harry turned away from her.

"I think you should leave now. I need a few minutes." He said

Hermione did not argue, and he heard her gently close the door as she left the room.

***

Emily was doing the same thing she had done every night since leaving St. Mungo's. She was sitting in her living room, staring at the fire burning in the fireplace. She was also once again thinking about Harry. She had not returned to the hospital since leaving the day he had been hurt. That night she cried until she fell asleep.

Over the next couple of days, she would spend the days at the set, throwing herself into her character. She did not know why, but being able to be someone else seemed to help her. However at night she could not avoid having to face the one thing she was trying to avoid, her relationship with Harry Potter.

She agonized over what she had to do. There was really no reason for debate. She knew after waiting at St. Mungos for word that Harry would be ok, and that she did not belong in his world. The clerk that told her she did not belong at the hospital only put into words something she had been feeling for quite a while. Once confronted with this fact, she could no longer avoid it. She had no future with Harry Potter and she had to end things with him.

She knew that not visiting Harry was not the way to do this. She told herself she did not visit because she had been told she did not belong at the hospital. She knew she was lying to herself. The reason she had not visited was she was putting off what she had to do. It had been six days since Harry had been taken to the hospital. In those six days she had not heard any news on how he was doing. She assumed that no news was good news, which meant that he was ok.

The fact that he was ok however made it clear that at some point she was going to have to see Harry, and tell him what was going on with her. Emily had dated a few men in her time, however in most cases they just simply grew apart. She never really had to end those relationships. This time it was different. She would have to face Harry, and tell him things were over. What made things worse is she would have to tell him why.

Emily was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on her door. She found herself wondering who would be knocking at her door. No one knew her address, except maybe her co stars and a few close friends and her friends were away at university, and her co stars were shooting several scenes that day.

Emily went to the door and was surprised when Ginny Weasley answered her when she asked who was there. Emily sighed and leaned her head against the door. Gathering up her strength she opened the door. She could see that Ginny was just a little angry.

"I thought I might stop by to let you know how Harry is doing." She sounded bitter, "You know Harry, you're boyfriend."

As she finished her statement Ginny shouldered her way into Emily's flat.

"By all means," Emily said softly, "Please come in."

Emily closed the door, and turned to face Ginny.

"He's fine by the way. He should be getting out of the hospital later today or tomorrow." Ginny sat down as she continued, "Not that you would want to know, you know being his girlfriend and all."

Emily tried to bite back her anger, but she couldn't hold it in.

"Not that that mattered to his family the day he was bought into the hospital," she answered bitterly.

Emily saw that her words had the effect on Ginny that she wanted. Ginny deflated, and looked away from her, after a minute she answered.

"What happened at the hospital was my family's mess up. It had nothing to do with Harry, so why are you punishing him?"

Emily sighed. This was harder than she thought, and this was just one of his friends. What would it be like when she had to do this with Harry.

"Ginny," she answered sadly, "I am not punishing Harry. I realized some things the day he was admitted to the hospital."

Emily could see Ginny was confused, but that lasted only a second, Emily could see it in her face when Ginny figured out what she was about to say.

"Oh Emily," Ginny said softly, before she could finish Emily interrupted her. She needed to finish what she had to say.

"I realized that Harry and I lived in two different worlds." Emily felt the sting of tears as they started to build up, "I don't belong in Harry's world." As she finished, her tears started to flow.

"How can you think that?" Ginny asked, however she already knew the answer.

Emily raised her eyebrows and answered bitterly.

"How could you ask that?" She was hurt by Ginny's question. She had confided a lot the issues she was having with Harry to Ginny. "I have known for a while I did not fit into Harry's world."

Ginny fired back

"Bullocks," Ginny jabbed her finger at her as she spoke, "You know damn well Ron and Hermione accept you as well as I do.."

"I thought that was the case as well Ginny," Emily tried to keep how bitter she felt from her voice, she was not sure if she succeeded but continued, "St. Mungos was an eye opener."

Ginny did not say anything, so Emily continued.

"There was Hermione, Ron was comforting her, and you had you brothers supporting you." Again she felt tears on her cheeks as she continued, "I was alone."

Ginny did not argue, she knew what Emily was saying was true. She felt terrible that Emily spent that day alone. She had no idea why none of the Weasley's thought to comfort her. She also now was beginning to realize how much that had hurt her.

Emily continued.

"I think the Nurse was the only one being honest with me that day when she told me I didn't belong there."

Ginny tried to protest, but Emily stopped her.

"I don't belong in Harry's world. He deserves to have a woman that understands his world and more importantly, is not afraid of his world."

Ginny finally found her voice.

"Emily, Harry doesn't care that you are not a witch, he loves you."

"That's what I'm afraid of Ginny." She answered sadly, "What do you think Harry would do if he knew how I felt about the Wizarding world?"

Ginny didn't answer. After a few minutes of silence Emily answered for her.

"He would walk away from that world."

Ginny again started to protest, however Emily answered.

"He's done it once already for someone he loves."

Ginny knew Emily was talking about Harry walking to his death. He was willing to give up his own life for the people he loved. Ginny was sure that Harry would turn his back on the wizarding world for Emily, he loved her that much.

"I can't ask him to do that." Emily continued, "It would kill him and we both know that."

Ginny nodded, she could not say anything.

"You still love him don't you?" Ginny looked at Emily, clearly shocked by her statement.

"Emily," She stammered, "How I feel about Harry doesn't matter. He loves you now."

Emily smiled sadly.

"Ginny, you know Harry and I can never be, that is why I have to end things with him before he does something stupid and noble. We both know that." She looked at Ginny as she continued,

"Harry deserves to have someone in his life that truly loves him. Since it can't be me, promise me you will tell him how you feel."

Ginny did not answer, she just stared at Emily for a long time. Emily was letting Harry go…

_***_

What the hell just happened? Harry stared at the door that Emily just walked out of, stunned.

His mind was reeling, trying hard not to believe what just happened. Emily just spent the last half hour telling him how much she loved him, and how she valued their relationship. Then she said that that was not enough. She did not belong in his world and ended their relationship.

Harry was too stunned to feel anything, he sat thinking about the conversation, well more like Emily talking and him listening.

Sure she had to deal with a few idiots. Hell he had to deal with the bigots in his world. He did not like it, but he was working on changing that. He knew she had been bothered at his not sharing his past with her, but he had finally showed her everything.

Was that it? He asked himself. She had seemed shocked when she learned about his part in the second war. Was it that she did not like the things done, was that why she had said the wizarding world scared the hell out of her? He knew she had been the subject of some crude comments, and that bastard Blaine did try something, but nothing happened to her. Granted the curse she had been hit with at the quidditch match was rather frightening. He thought she had gotten over that. Hell, he thought to himself, the muggle world wasn't exactly a picnic, just look at how the Dursley's treated people.

Then she started talking about how she could not handle his being an Auror. She told him how she was afraid every time he had to go on an assignment. Wondering if that would be the one that would leave him dead, or seriously injured. He tried to tell her that his job was not that dangerous. She countered with his recent time at St. Mungos. She told him that was when she had realized something that was eating at her for some time.

What did she mean she did not belong in his world?

She seemed to get along fine with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. She even got along with the rest of the Weasley family. Harry then remembered what she had said about waiting for news about his condition at St. Mungos. She said she had been alone. The Weasley's had each other to comfort each other, she had no one.

Harry felt himself getting angry, why the hell would Ron and Hermione just ignore her like that. Of course she felt like she didn't belong. His family, the Weasley's ignored her during one of the toughest times in her life. Emily told him that day at the hospital had been an eye opener for her. Harry got up and left the restaurant, feeling more angrier at his two best friends than he had in a very long time. He found himself blaming them for Emily's leaving him.

***

Over the next few days Harry did his best to avoid the Weasley's. He was just simply to angry over everything. Harry would go to work at the ministry and to avoid having to work with Ron he set up training sessions with his Rapid response team. Not only did this work well in helping him to avoid Ron, but Hermione as well.

This worked for several days. Then came the day he ran into Mr. Weasley while waiting on the lift to get to his office. Arthur greeted Harry warmly, commenting on the fact that he had not seen him in a while. At first Harry tried to pretend he didn't hear Mr. Weasley talking to him. However Mr. Weasley finally gently tapped Harry on his shoulder, Harry faced Mr. Weasley and muttered something angrily. Arthur just stared at Harry shocked, and said he would let Harry be.

Harry tried to feel bad about the angry words he had said to Mr. Weasley, but he just couldn't. In the end Arthur had also ignored Emily while she was waiting for news on his condition at St. Mungo's. Harry reasoned to himself, Mr. Weasley was just as much to blame for Emily's ending their relationship as the others were.

That night Harry went home, in a foul mood. He had been thinking again about how his relationship was not just with Emily, but the Weasley's as well. As he thought about things he realized that maybe they were not as good of friends he thought they were. He thought back to his fourth year, when Ron had abandoned him over his getting into the Tri Wizard tournament. How Ron had abandoned him and Hermione on the search for the Horcruxes.

Not only had Ginny ended their relationship but she had let Ron believe he was the one that broke things off, leading to Ron beating him so bad he had a few broken ribs. When he thought about these events and finally how his adopted family let the most important person in his life sit alone while he was fighting for his life. How could someone do these things to someone they considered his friends.

Harry dark thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock on his door. Who the hell could that be, he wondered as he opened his door. He was surprised to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Before he could shut the door, Ron said to him angrily

"You want to tell me what my father did to you?"

Harry looked at Ron, not having a clue as to what Ron was talking about.

Before Harry could answer Ron continued

"My father has treated you like a son, How could…."

Harry now realized what Ron was on about, he was angry about the comments Harry had made that afternoon at the ministry. Harry knew he had not been pleasant with Mr. Weasley, but that was justified, after all look how the Weasley's treated Emily.

Harry glared at Ron, he then replied angrily

"After what your family did to Emily, I really don't think you have room to talk Ron."

Ron looked at Harry, dumbfounded. He clearly was waiting for Harry to explain what he meant. Harry had no intention of explaining anything. Ron should know what he was talking about. After a few minutes of tense silence Ron finally asked.

"Just what exactly did we do to Emily?" Ron asked

"Come off it Ron, You know damn will…"

Hermione interrupted Harry, Gently.

"Harry, Is Emily here? Maybe we can talk to her and get this…"

Harry just glared at Hemione before he realized he had not spoken to the Weasleys since Emily ended things. They had no idea she left him.

"No, Emily is not here." He answered curtly.

"Can we give her a call?" Hermione answered softly, she knew getting angry with Harry would not solve anything. If they could talk to Emily and find out what it was the Weasley's had done, she was sure they would be able to straighten out whatever was going on.

At first Harry just glared at the three of them. When he did speak he could barely keep the anger out of his voice.

"No, we cannot give her a call." Harry looked at his feet as he finished, "She ended things last week."

Hermione started to try and comfort Harry

"Harry, I am so sorry, what happened??" She asked gently.

Harry gave Hermione an angry look.

"The Weasley's is what happened." He answered bitterly.

Hermione looked at Harry, shocked, Ginny could see that she too was trying to control her temper. Ron just looked at Harry, clearly shocked at what he just heard. Ginny had enough. She knew that Emily had not taken what happened at the hospital well, but that was not the main reason she broke things off with Harry. Furthermore Harry knew that as well. She had warned him what would happen if he continued to shut Emily out.

She finally spoke, not bothering to hold back her temper.

"Emily's breaking up with you had nothing to do with my family, so I would thank you not to take that tone with Ron and Hermione."

Harry looked at her, shocked. She felt Hermione place her hand on her shoulder, Ginny shook it off and continued.

"How many times did I warn you she was going to leave if you didn't start letting her in?"

She waited and Harry didn't answer her.

"Emily left you because you would not let her in. No one likes to be shut out Harry. I should know, I have been there!"

She then took hold of Hermione and Ron and started to herd them out the door. She then turned to Harry,

"Let us know when you come to your senses." As she finished Harry heard his door slam.

Over the next few days Harry tried to ignore what Ginny had told him. However no matter how hard he tried to, he knew deep down she was right. She had warned him time and time again about his not telling Emily about his past, and his world. When he did tell her he would just tell her about the events, but he would never talk to her about them.

He knew she had been a little shocked after seeing his memories in the pensive. He never took the time to ask her how she felt about what she had seen. After she had been released from St. Mungo's he let her know he was happy she was going to be ok. However he never talked to her about how what happened made her feel.

As he thought about what happened with Emily, he also found himself looking back at his and Ginny's relationship and found he had done the same thing to Ginny. As he thought about it he discovered something about himself. He was a terrible boyfriend. In relationships he took but he really did not give.

Harry found himself really thinking about that. He began to wonder if maybe he too was like Voldemort. He took, but he really did not give. Sure he was not going around offing people and not trying to take over the magical world. However he still used people.

He thought of Ron and Hermione. He had needed their help to destroy the Horcruxes, and they gave it to him freely. But when he thought about it, when they needed him, during the most important times in their lives, he was not there for them. He had been forced to attend their wedding. The more he thought of this, the more he was convinced that he and Voldemort were not so different.

Harry found himself sliding into a deep depression. He once again took time off from the ministry, citing personal issues. He stopped going out. He just stayed at home. Harry Potter began to waste away…

****


	19. Learning to Fly

Authors note: First off I would like to thank Dragongod444 who has agreed to be my Beta reader for this story. With his help you should see a dramatic decrease in spelling and grammar errors. This is leading to a longer time between postings as I am having him review and correct those pesky spelling and grammar mistakes before I post the chapter. So here is the next thrilling installment of Redemptions. BTW I love reviews in the morning..They mean...Readers.

18

Learning to Fly

Draco glared at Hermione angrily from his table as he listened to her present her argument. Draco had tried to push the marriage between Theodore Knott and Katrina Walker through. However Granger had found out what he was trying to do and immediately filed for an injunction citing pending legal action.

He had argued that even though the existing laws were being challenged, The Pureblood Marriage act was current the law of the land so to speak as supported by the Wizengamot's decision to end Granger's Marriage to the Weasley. Draco did not expect to end up arguing the merits of the Pureblood marriage act today. That was something he was going to try and fight at the Walker trial.

Draco had been doing everything he could to delay the Walker trial. He knew there was no way he was going to win that case. Granger's arguments against the contract were just too strong. She was arguing that the marriage contract was the same as making Katrina Walker a slave to her husband and his family, and that Slavery had never been legal under English common law. She had the case law to support her argument as well.

Draco desperately needed some case law to support the marriage contract. The only law he had on his side was the pureblood marriage act. He had made some progress in solidifying that law by forcing Granger's divorce. However that did not help with the Walker case. He figured that by pushing the marriage through that would legitimize the Pureblood Marriage act, giving him case law to argue when the Walker case came before the full Wizengamot.

Unfortunately, Granger found out what he was up to and filed for an injunction.

He did not think that Granger would get her injunction. He argued the current law should be upheld, as it was in the case of Ganger's marriage.

Granger had argued that the Pureblood Marriage Act was not constitutional under the Constitution of the United Kingdom and laws passed forbidding discrimination. She had made the argument that since Draco was using the Pureblood Marriage Act to support the Walker marriage as the current law of the land, then the Wizengamot should not only rule on the Walker marriage, but the Pureblood Marriage act as well.

Draco was not prepared to argue the pureblood marriage act. He had planned on quashing Grangers injunction today, not to argue the law itself. He asked for a continuance so that he could prepare a case.

Granger argued that Malfoy should be prepared to argue his case, since he was the one that was arguing the law supported forcing the Knott-Walker Marriage and he should not need a continuance. Unfortunately for Draco, she was right and the Wizengamot agreed with her.

It was clear from the start that Granger had every intention of overturning the Pureblood Marriage Act under the guise of arguing for her injunction. Unlike Draco, she was prepared to argue the merits of her case. The problem for Draco, once again was she had a case.

He could see that Granger was finishing her closing arguments.

"As you can see esteemed members of the court," Hermione smiled as she was speaking, "It is clear that the Pureblood Marriage act violates the basic rights of English citizens to choose whom they will marry. The state does not have the right to decide whom one marries. This is a basic right of all English subjects, and any law that denies those rights cannot be enforced. At this time, I ask that the members of the court to overturn the Pureblood Marriage act in its entirety on the basis that it is unconstitutional."

Draco looked at Hermione, surprised, "What is that bitch playing at?" He asked himself as he shot out of his chair. She had gone too far. There was no way the court could overturn the Pureblood marriage Act, which was something that could only be done by the full Wizengamot.

"Members of the court," He tried to sound calm, however, Draco knew he was in trouble. "This is not the forum to repeal a law that is on the books. That is something that only can be decided by the full Wizengamot." He glared at Granger, "I am afraid Miss Granger has asked this court to overstep their authority today."

He looked up to the three members of the Wizengamot, Who were now talking amongst themselves. After a few minutes of discussion the Chief warlock of the court looked at Hermione.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy is correct. This court does not have the authority to overturn a law."

Draco smiled. Finally something went his way.

As Draco watched Hermione stand up to address the court, he was concerned. She did not seem surprised at all by the courts ruling. She did not look like someone that had just lost. He tried to hide his shock as she made her statement.

"I understand Chief Warlock." She then handed the chief warlock another document, and she continued. "I do ask the court the Suspend the Pureblood Marriage Act until it can be heard before the full Wizengamot."

The clerk handed Draco a copy of the document Hermione had given the Chief Warlock. It was a motion to suspend the Pureblood Marriage Act. Draco groaned as the Chief Warlock granted her motion. The bitch had beaten him, again.

David Blaine glared at the Mudblood bitch as he listened to the Chief Warlock grant her motion. The Pureblood Marriage Act was now suspended. In addition to suspending the Pureblood Marriage Act, she also asked that any pending arranged marriages where either party did not want to enter into that marriage be suspended as well. That motion was granted as well.

His fiancé looked at him smugly as she handed him some papers. He looked at her and she explained.

"I am filing a motion to have our marriage contract dissolved. Please inform your Barrister that Miss Granger will be contacting him shortly."

Blaine stared as his fiancé headed out of the court room. He then looked down at Hermione as she was packing up her papers. He thought to himself as he watched, that bitch has to be stopped…

***

Harry groaned as the knocking on his door continued. Whoever it was started knocking about ten minutes ago. Harry figured if he just did not answer, whoever was at his door would simply think he was not home and just give up. Luck was not with him today, as the insistent knocking continued, determined to deprive him of his…self imposed misery.

"Go away!" He shouted at the door.

The knocking stopped. Harry sighed in relief. Whoever it was must have given up. Harry rolled over to go back to sleep. As he started to close his eyes, the knocking started again. Harry flung his covers aside and quickly put on his robe as he went to the door. He did not know who was at his door but he was going to make them regret not taking the hint when he didn't answer his door ten minutes ago.

Harry pulled the door open and before he could say what he wanted to, a flash of red hair pushed her way past him. Harry turned and said sarcastically.

"By all means do come in Ginny, make yourself at home." He glared at her as she stepped into the living room.

She looked around, noting the condition of Harry's condo. Harry had not cleaned in several days so the room was a bit of a mess. Harry had sent Kreacher to help out at Hogwarts, it seemed there was a breakout of some kind of bug and many of the House Elves were sick. Harry had offered Kreacher's help. More to get rid of him for a bit than anything, Kreacher had been bugging Harry about being alone again, and Harry had grown weary of it. Harry lived all of his life without parents and he certainly didn't need a house elf trying to take over that role.

As she took in the condition of the condo Ginny turned and faced Harry,

"Love what you've done with the place."

Harry just shrugged in response. He hadn't invited her for a visit so he felt she had no business saying anything. Harry did not say anything at first. After a few minutes of glaring at each other, well more Harry glaring at Ginny, hoping she would get the hint and leave. Harry should have known better, this was Ginny Weasley, she did what she wanted. Harry finally broke the silence.

"What are you doing here Ginny?" He could not keep the anger from his voice as he asked.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me Harry Potter," Ginny stated heatedly. "I am here to get you out of the house, so get dressed."

Harry started to say something but Ginny interrupted him.

"Don't argue with me. You need to get out for a bit and I am not leaving without you."

Harry knew he would not win an argument with Ginny, so he went to his bedroom to get dressed.

***

Ginny watched as Harry left to get dressed. She could not believe the condition of Harry's condo. No one should live like this, she thought to herself. She knew this was not the way Harry normally was, he was taking Emily's leaving him hard. It had been a couple of weeks and Harry had not been to work, and was avoiding the Weasley's. He had refused Ron and Hermione's calls. Finally Ginny had decided enough was enough and something had to be done. That is what brought her to Harry's door this morning. She was going to break Harry out of his depression, if she had to drag him by the ears.

"Kreacher" she whispered.

To her surprise Kreacher appeared next to her.

"Mistress Weasley." Kreacher bowed as he addressed her.

"Kreacher, Harry and I are going out for a bit this morning," She looked around the condo, "Would you mind taking care of this mess while we are out."

Kreacher nodded, and went into the kitchen to start putting the condo back in order.

As Kreacher left, Harry stepped out of his bedroom. He still looked like something the cat had dragged in, but at least he was dressed, Ginny thought to herself.

She took his hand, and took out her wand; she cast a quick cleaning charm on his clothes, and then summoned his Firebolt. Before Harry could protest she dissaparated and the two of them disappeared.

Harry felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed through a tube, and then he found himself standing in the center of quidditch pitch. As he took in his surroundings he realized that this was actually a quidditch stadium, not just a pitch. He turned to Ginny and before he could ask she said.

"Welcome to the Harpies den." She smiled as she continued. "Catch me if you can!"

Before Harry could react Ginny quickly mounted her broom and took off. At first he just watched as she flew around the stadium. He was amazed at how fast she flew, and he could also see she wore a smile of pure joy. After flying a couple of laps around the stadium alone she flew over to Harry, and slowly flew around him.

"Mr. Potter, why aren't you flying?" She flew up behind him and whispered. "You're not afraid of heights are you?" She then took off as fast as she could.

Harry mounted his broom and took off after her. Afraid of heights! Never and he meant to show her. Over the next hour or so the two just flew. They played follow the leader, in which the leader would do whatever they could to get the one following to chicken out. They also flew around tossing the quaffle to each other as well.

Harry had to admit it felt good to be flying. He hadn't felt this care free in a very long time, and he had to admit flying also helped to bring him out of his depression. Finally Ginny landed on the ground. He followed her and landed next to her.

"Thanks Ginny" He felt more alive than he had in a long time. "I think I needed that."

Ginny looked at him and just smiled.

"You know Harry, you are not alone. You do have people that care about you."

Harry looked at her. He did not say anything so she continued.

"Harry, your problem is you tend to shut people out, especially when you are feeling vulnerable or hurt."

Harry finally found his voice.

"Ginny,"

He paused for a minute, trying to find the right words. Harry knew he kept people at an arm's length; there were very few people he let in. He could think of two and he realized that he really never fully let Ron and Hermione in. Over the last year he had shut his two best friends out as well. Until Emily came along he realized he had become a bit of a loner. However he still, no matter how much he cared, never fully let Emily in. He realized that that was probably what drove Emily away. This hit him like a ton of bricks, and he found himself turning away from Ginny, unable to face her.

He felt Ginny touch his face gently, he looked at her and to his surprise, she was looking at him compassionately, not judging him.

"Harry, you just need to learn how to let people in." She said gently.

Sadly Harry said, "I don't know how to let people in. Anytime I have in they have either left me or hurt me."

Ginny knew the last statement was directed at her. She knew he had started to let her in, when she broke things off with him. Ginny realized more than ever how much she had hurt Harry a year ago. She would do anything to be able to take it back, however that was something she would not be able to do.

"I am sorry I hurt you last year," she said softly, "But if you let me, I would like to help you learn to let people in." she paused, "You don't have to be alone."

Harry just looked at her for a minute, and then said softly…

"I would like that."


	20. The Trial Part 1

Authors Note: First I want to apologize for how long it has taken me to updated Redemption. There are several reasons for the long wait. The first is the was a very difficult chapter to write. The scene with Harry and Ginny i swear I rewrote almost a hundred times.

The second is real life. I have family visiting in July and had to spend time with them, which took me away from my writing. The last is Fallout 3. I started playing and got hooked. Sorry. I hope you can forgive me. So without further ado here is The Trail part 1

19

The Trial Part I

"Ron I really need to review my notes before tomorrow!" Ron could hear the panic in his wife's voice, she was also ringing her hands nervously as she finished. "I really need to makes sure I am prepared for tomorrow."

Ron sighed to himself as he thought to himself, some things will never change. Just like she did in school, Hermione was driving herself mad about the upcoming Walker trial tomorrow. She would always do this before a major exam at school, worried that she would get everything wrong, and in the end get the best marks in the school. He reminded her of that gently.

Hermione glared at him, eyes burning with anger as she replied sharply.

"How could you compare tomorrow to an exam at school!" At least she was keeping her voice down, Ron thought thankfully as she continued, "Do you have any clue of what is at stake tomorrow?"

"Of course I know what is at stake tomorrow." He said soothingly.

Hermione glared at him as she asked "And what is that Ronald?"

"You need to relax." He said gently.

"I can't relax," she responded heatedly. "If you really knew what was at stake tomorrow you would not be so blasé about it."

Ron fought down his anger as she said this. He knew not only did she plan on challenging the marriage laws, but if she did win the Walker case she was going to argue for the immediate repeal of the pureblood marriage act; the law that had been used to end their marriage. Hermione interrupted his thoughts.

"You know if I screw up tomorrow we cannot be together as husband and wife." She looked at him as she continued. "Or maybe you just don't care about that."

"How can you say that?" Ron asked a hint of anger in his voice. Before he said anything else he realized what she was doing. She did this every time she was nervous about something. She would pick a fight with him. Ron would not rise to the bait this time. A fight would do neither of them any good.

"Because I need to get home and go over my notes, and you won't let me!"

Hermione started to stand up, "Even if you don't care, I do and…"

Ron stood up, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, and slowly sat her down. Ron placed his finger over her mouth gently before she could say anything in protest.

"Hermione, there is nothing more for you to review or research. You already have your case right here." As he said this he lovingly tapped her forehead with his finger as he continued. "However if you go into the Wizengamot tomorrow a bundle of nerves, you will not do anybody any good. So today, you need to relax so you can do your best tomorrow."

Hermione looked at him for a few seconds, the anger in her eyes softening. She did not say anything; she just lowered her head on his shoulders.

Harry landed in the middle of the paddock, and turned around and watched Ginny as she continued to fly around the paddock. Harry had forgotten how much he enjoyed flying with her until she invited him to go flying with her three weeks ago. Since that day, they had gone flying several times, as well as having dinner together a few more times.

Harry had completely forgotten how easy it was to just be himself when he was with her. He did not have to be the boy that saved the Wizarding world, or Harry the Auror, leader of the elite Rapid Response Team. With Ginny he was just, Harry, and he really liked that. In the time he spent with Ginny he felt that the two of them seemed to be rebuilding the friendship they had lost when she ended things with him.

Harry found himself wondering if there might be a chance to get back together with Ginny. He realized over the last few weeks all the reasons he had fallen in love with her in the first place. He found himself once again fighting his inner beast. The beast roared for him to grab Ginny and snog her senseless. His heart said she hurt him once before and he should just leave well enough alone. Harry was just not sure what he wanted to do.

The one thing Harry did now is that he did enjoy the time he had spent with Ginny over the last couple of weeks. Harry did not want to ruin the friendship that was starting up with Ginny again but he found himself wondering what happened with the two of them. He had not been able to bring himself to ask her the one thing that he needed to know, he was afraid of ruining the friendship they were developing. However he had to know.

Harry watched as Ginny flew towards him, she slowed down and landed just a few feet in front of him. She smiled at him and asked.

"Done already?"

Harry laughed

"Sorry Gin, I was getting a little…"

He and Ginny laughed before he could finish what he was about to say. He was a little saddle sore as the muggles would say.

"Too bad they can't fit brooms with a comfortable seat." Ginny answered, "After a long game I sometimes can't walk."

Harry nodded he knew what she meant. But he did not want to talk about brooms today. He noticed that they talked about the little things, brooms, how Teddy was doing but the seemed to dance around the one subject that was like the elephant in the room. What happened between the two of them?

Harry was tired of dancing, so he motioned for Ginny to sit with him.

"I missed this." He started as she sat next to him

Ginny looked at him, not sure what he meant. Before she could ask he continued.

"I missed our friendship Ginny." Harry looked at her and then asked the one question he had been avoiding for the last three weeks. "What happened to us?"

Ginny felt her heart drop down into the pit of her stomach as she heard the one question she hoped he would never ask. It's not that Ginny didn't know the answer to his question. This was something she had thought about quite a bit. Especially after she and Harry returned to being friends. No the answer to the question was not the issue here.

Ginny liked having Harry as her friend. Over the last few weeks she too remembered all the things that she liked about Harry Potter. From the way he smiled at her when they would say hello, to the Cheshire cat grin he would get when he was flying. She had missed Harry over the last couple of years, and she just got him back into her life. She did not want to do anything that would ruin that. Ginny was afraid that her answer to his question would ruin the friendship they now had.

She was not surprised by the question. As a matter of fact she expected him to ask her. She was just hoping it might not be this soon.

Ginny looked away from Harry, finding the backs of her hands interesting as she tried to think of a way to tell Harry why she ended things with him when she did, but not knowing what to say or even how to begin answering the question.

She looked at Harry and said;

"Harry please," she gently placed her hand gently over his as she spoke. "Can't we be happy with the way things are now? Why open up old wounds?"

She hoped he would agree with her.

When she looked into Harry's eyes, she knew he would not just leave things. She could see it in his eyes. Harry confirmed what she thought by the answer to his question.

"Ginny, I have to know what happened with us." He covered the hand she was holding with his other hand as he answered. "Seeing how we have been over the last few weeks, I need to know where we went wrong."

Ginny knew as he finished she had to answer his question. The problem was she was afraid that he would be hurt by her answer.

"Harry, I never meant to hurt you," she started slowly. She looked away from him as she continued.

"I think we kind of rushed into things. I mean one minute you could not be with me and that hurt me more than you will ever know…"

Harry started to interrupt her. She silenced him by placing her finger over his lips.

"Harry I know you did it to protect me." She sighed, "That does not change the fact that you left me. You will never know how hard it was for me while you were on the run. I never stopped thinking about you. I would listen for any scrap of news about you I could, hoping that you would survive that year. Then we got word you were at Hogwarts and we were going to fight Voldemort. I remember seeing you for the first time in a year in the room of requirement and I knew we would be ok. "

As Ginny continued talking she swiped at her eyes with her other hand to clear the tears that were forming in her eyes. She knew what she was about to say would be hardest thing to tell him. But now that she had started telling him, she couldn't stop.

"You left me…" She said, looking at him intently, her eyes showing just a bit of anger, but more hurt than anger, "You went off to die, and you never said goodbye. You have no idea how much that hurt and I don't think I ever got over that."

Ginny looked away from Harry as she continued. In for a penny in for a pound she thought to herself,

"Then we got back together and you were off saving the world again." She looked at him as she finished her explanation, "I found myself wondering how long it would be before you decided to leave me again, so that no one would use me to get to you. I don't think I would have survived if that happened again, so I ended things on my own terms."

Harry just looked at her. He never realized how much he had hurt Ginny by ending things with her. He guessed he could understand where she was coming from. As he thought about it, he wondered if he asked Emily about what happened with them how close her answer would be to the one Ginny had just given him. He was glad that Ginny could be honest with him over what had happened. Maybe he would handle things differently with his next relationship. Harry found himself wondering if he ever would be able to have a normal relationship after all he had been through.

Suddenly Harry realized just how much he had hurt the people he loved. He never meant to put Ginny through all the pain she had gone through. However the fact of the matter is, he had. He looked at Ginny briefly and she quickly looked away from him. He had opened up old wounds, and she was once again hurting. No matter what he did, he seemed to hurt the ones he loved. Harry stood up.

As he stood Ginny called to him.

He didn't answer her as he walked away. He needed some time to sort things out…

Ginny watched as Harry walked towards the pond. She had been regretting the day he would ask her about the two of them, and how they had ended being exes instead of husband and wife. This had lead to her doing quite a bit of soul searching, trying to figure out when exactly her feelings for Harry had changed.

Ginny's problem was, she was learning that her feeling for Harry had never changed. Realizing that lead to even more questions, why had she pushed him away. The journey to the answers to her question was a painful one. However she realized that she was afraid that he would leave her again. You see history had a way of repeating itself. Harry had left her twice, the first time was when he took off to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes, the second when he went to face Voldemort and let him kill him. She had sensed him near her that night; he was close enough to touch. All he had to do was just say goodbye, however he chose not to. After talking to him over the last few weeks she learned the reason he had not said goodbye was he would have never been able to go through with letting Voldemort kill him.

She realized now, her fears had been a bit childish. However she could not help how she felt. He had left her once when he thought he would be a danger to her, and here he was, going after evil again. What was to stop him from leaving her again? Ginny knew she would have never survived his leaving her again, so she left him.

Looking back, she knew that was probably not the best course of action. It had taken a while, but Harry had moved on. She had to admit Harry's dating Emily brought out strong feelings of jealousy. It was then that she realized that she still was in love with Harry Potter, and what hurt at that time was knowing that he had moved on.

She watched how happy Emily made him. At first she tried to hate the both of them. Then came the day he saw her in the hospital. She had almost destroyed everything that day, but somehow common sense had taken over and for the first time in a year and half she and Harry talked. They never really got to the heart of their issues, but they had talked. It was then that she decided if she could not be his girlfriend she would offer her friendship.

The hardest thing for Ginny while Harry was with Emily was watching him make the same mistakes he had when he was with her. She had tried to tell him, but he didn't listen and she watched him push Emily away. She did not blame Emily, she would not have put up with him shutting her out either. She knew if he did not open up to Emily, she would leave him.

When Emily did leave him, Ginny hated to see how hurt Harry was. Harry started doing what he did best, pushing his friends away and wallowing in self pity. After a week of this, she had enough. Harry had people that cared for him, and shutting them out was the wrong thing for him to do. So she did the only thing she could. She forced him out of his shell.

Having Harry back in her life the last three weeks had been wonderful. She started to once again see why she had fallen for him in the first place. Things were going well with them. Not that she expected they would start dating again, however she could not help dreaming. Now they had to get over the truth of what had happened with them in the past…If they could get past that then just maybe…

David Blaine glared at the morning Prophet. The lead story in the morning paper was what the paper called a showdown between the old ways and the reforms that Kingsley was wanting to make within the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding world as a whole. He felt disgust as he read the papers comments that the changes were best for the Wizarding world as a whole, and it was about time someone dragged the world into modern times. The paper went on to say the one to do that was not even a pureblood wizard, but a muggleborn named Hermione Granger Weasley.

The paper acknowledged that in what is thought was a huge travesty of justice the marriage between the mudblood bitch and the blood traitor Weasley. The paper went on to say that once pureblood marriage act was dissolved, she and Weasley should be re-married immediately. Blaine threw the paper down in disgust.

The interfering bitch had no idea how many lives she was ruining with her crusade. Until the Walker case had started he was engaged to marry a pureblood witch. He knew she never liked him, but unlike the Walker family, her family was going to honor the marriage contract they entered into with his family. That was until she heard about the Walker case. His fiancé had called once she heard what the bitch was trying to do. She had stated that she would not marry him. She also called him a few choice names and had not spoken with him since that day.

He had talked to Malfoy about putting an end to the case. But the incompetent oaf was now saying that after reading the briefs that Granger had presented supporting the case being bought before the full Wizengamot, he was going to lose. Draco Malfoy had no balls, Blaine thought to himself. In his father's day, they knew what to do with a mouthy mudblood.

He pointed this out to both Malfoy and Bledsoe; however, neither of them would sanction direct action against the bitch. They cited the public outcry over what had happened when she was forced to divorce Weasley, and her pregnancy almost being terminated. It was then that Blaine decided he would take things into his own hands. The question was how.

He had done his homework. He learned that all visitors to the Department of Magical Law were required to surrender their wands. It seemed that witches and wizards tended to get emotional when it came to the law interfering with their lives. However he learned that the only thing that ministry security was worried about were wands. In their arrogance, they did not consider muggle weapons a threat.

His plan was inspired from reading how Granger had killed Deloris Umbridge and one of her followers by using a muggle gun. After reading this, he learned all he could about using the muggle weapon. It had taken him sometime to learn how to use a gun effectively. Once that was accomplished it was nothing to get his hands on the gun he was now cleaning. He would see how things went in the morning session of court, and if it went as Malfoy thought it would, he would just have to pay a visit to the bitch's office.

He had no doubt that was where she would be during the afternoon recess for lunch. He watched her as she tried other cases, and without fail, during the lunch break she would go to her office, to finish paperwork as she ate.

It was just a matter of setting an appointment for himself to meet with an advocate in the Department of Magical Law. He was looking forward to showing both Malfoy and Bledsoe how a mudblood should be handled…

Hermione watched as Draco sat down. He had just finished stating that the marriage contract between the Walker and Knott family was in fact valid under current wizarding law, and to Hermione's delight he argued that the law that supported the contract was in fact the Pureblood Marriage Act. Hermione had expected him to use the Pureblood Marriage Act; as a matter of fact he had done just what she wanted him to.

Hermione looked at Draco and then she stood up and addressed Wizengamot.

"Unfortunately for my client," she made it a point to look at Malfoy as she seemed to concede his point, "Mr. Malfoy is correct, the Pureblood Marriage Act does support the marriage contract between the Knott's and the Walkers."

She smiled to herself as she saw the shocked look on Draco's face and the gasp from those in the gallery watching the trial.

Draco looked at Hermione shocked. What is she playing at, he wondered. She just gave him his case on a silver platter. Draco did not think that Granger was that dumb, she was up to something. He quickly grabbed his case notes, and reviewed them, trying to see if he could see what angle Granger was going for, however it did not take Granger to drop the other shoe on him.

"However, "He heard her continue, "The question is not whether the Pureblood Marriage Act is the current law, but is it a legitimate law."

Draco felt his jaw drop as she finished her statement…

Hermione could not help smiling as she saw Draco's expression. She could tell she had caught him completely by surprise. He had expected her to argue against the law using case law. She knew she would win on case law alone, however not only did she want to go after the Pureblood Marriage Act, but also many of the other laws that were rammed through the Wizengamot while the ministry was controlled by the Wizengamot. She looked away from Draco as Kingsley arched his eyebrows at her and asked, clearly surprised at her statement.

"Mrs. Weasley," Kingsley made it a point to call her by her married name even though she and Ron were technically divorced, "Either the law is on the books and is legitimate, or it isn't and you have just stated that the Pureblood Marriage Act was currently the law."

Hermione hid her smile. Kingsley had done just what she wanted him to. She had not shared with anyone her plans for the morning session. She did not want someone to be able to argue down the road she and Kingsley had manipulated this morning's trial. It was clear that Kingsley had been surprised at her statement that the pureblood marriage act was the current law.

"Actually Minister, what I did was to question whether or not the Pureblood Marriage Act was a legitimate law."

"Miss Granger," Thomas Knott addressed her this time, "The Pureblood Marriage Act was argued and passed before this very body. Are you questioning the legitimacy of the Wizengamot?"

Knott sounded irritated as he finished his question, and Hermione could see several members of the court nodding their heads in agreement with Knott. She had to be very careful how she presented the rest of her argument; she could not afford to alienate the members of the Wizengamot.

"Mr. Knott," It took all of her will to keep her tone respectful, and considering her history with Knott she was surprised she was able to, "I am not questioning the legitimacy of this esteemed body, however we can all agree that the ministry while under Lord Voldemort's control was not a legitimate government."

Knott glared at Hermione, pure hate in his eyes; however, he did not answer her. Hermione reached back to her desk and grabbed several briefs that had been filed with the Wizengamot ordering the release of Muggleborns and other people that had been jailed for opposing Lord Voldemort's ministry. She handed the briefs to Percy Weasley, who was looking at her dumbfounded. It seemed he too was surprised, however unlike many others in the room, she could see Percy knew what she was up to. As he took the briefs from her he smiled as he shook his head. She continued.

"These are briefs that were presented to the Full Wizengamot shortly after Lord Voldemort was defeated. These briefs clearly state that the Ministry under Minister Thickness was not a legitimate government."

"Be that as it may Miss Granger," Knott interrupted "The laws was voted on and passed by the Wizengamot."

Hermione smiled at Knott and asked "Yes that is true, however, under the circumstances, that vote could not represent the true will of the Wizengamot."

"I assure you the vote for this bill was conducted in…"

Hermione interrupted Knott before he finished, "Mr. Knott, the penalty for not supporting the ministry during Voldemort's reign was very severe, at a minimum time in Azkaban, at the worst death." She handed another set of documents to Percy, "These are affidavits signed my many members of the Wizengamot stating they were threatened by the ministry with both of the above unless they voted in favor of the ministries policies." She went through the affidavits until she found the one she was looking for, and then continued.

"As a matter of fact this is your affidavit attesting to that Mr. Knott."

She handed him his affidavit. Knott just glared at the document.

She then stepped back and addressed Kingsley.

"Minister, I ask for a vote of this esteemed body repealing not only the Pureblood Marriage Act, but all the laws that were passed by the illegitimate Ministry lead by Lord Voldemort."

Draco sighed, he knew there was no way anyone on the Wizengamot would oppose her motion. If they did then they were as good as admitting they were supporters of Lord Voldemort. No one would do that. Draco had to admit this was a brilliant move on Hermione's part.

What the hell just happened? Blaine asked himself as he watched the mudblood sit down at her table. He listened as Kingsley addressed Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you wish to present a rebuttal to Mrs. Weasley's argument."

Blaine watched as Draco stood up, and to his shock said he had no rebuttal argument. This enraged Blaine even more; he wasn't even going to counter all that the bitch had said. What kind of Barrister was Malfoy? He was going to let the bitch win.

Shacklebolt called a two hour recess for lunch, and to give the members of the Wizengamot a chance to discuss the arguments that Granger presented. Looking over the faces of the Wizengamot, Blaine knew they were going to repeal the Pureblood Marriage Act. His fiancé would be free to call of their engagement.

Blaine stood up and approached Malfoy; he grabbed Malfoy's shoulder roughly and hissed.

"What the hell are you doing Malfoy?"

Draco just glared at him and answered menacingly.

"Blaine, get your hands off of me."

Blaine did not comply, but answered.

"You're just going to let that bitch win aren't you?" Blaine spat angrily.

Malfoy removed Blaine's hand from his shoulder, before Draco could answer, he heard Bledsoe's voice.

"It seems I underestimated Ms. Granger," he said more to Blaine than Malfoy.

"You have to admit," Draco answered, "That was a brilliant piece of politics." Draco sighed, "I don't think even my father could have pulled that off."

Blaine had enough and said, "She's a fucking mudblood and you are complimenting her work?"

"You forget Blaine," Draco answered hotly, "Granger is the brightest witch of my class, and was instrumental in bringing down the Dark Lord."

"Harry Potter brought down the Dark Lord!" Blaine corrected Malfoy.

Malfoy laughed as he answered. "You daft prick, Potter may have been the one to cast the spell that killed the Dark Lord, However she was the brains behind the whole operation."

Blaine just Glared at Malfoy and asked. "So what does that have to do with today?"

To his surprise Bledsoe answered.

"No one on the Wizengamot will dare to vote against not repealing the Pureblood Marriage Act." Bledsoe sounded defeated and he answered Blaine before he could ask. "If they vote against repealing the law they are saying they supported the Thickness Ministry, it is well known that Thickness was just a puppet for Voldemort. So if they support the policies of the Thickness they support Voldemort. No one will dare admit to that."

"It's even worse than that." Draco stated.

Bledsoe and Blaine looked at him as he continued.

"She is forcing the Wizengamot to declare that the Thickness ministry was an illegitimate government. Once that happened all the laws passed by the Thickness ministry will automatically be repealed."

Bledsoe swore softly.

"Harry, don't you think you are being just a little bit paranoid." Ron smiled at his best friend as they ate their lunch.

Harry had just suggested that Hermione be given a protective detail. Ron was grateful that his best friend was concerned about his wife, but he did not think she would need a protective detail. He was an Auror and was quite capable of keeping his wife safe. He made a point to tell Harry this as well.

"Ron, you are not with her all the time, you cannot protect her when you are not with her." Harry pointed out to Ron.

Ron shrugged his shoulders and replied. "Harry, I really don't think that Hermione needs protection. Besides, we both know she can take care of herself."

Harry just shook his head as he answered.

"So you don't think that after today she might have maybe pissed a few people off?"

Ron looked at Harry with a blank look, clearly not understanding Harry's point. Harry sighed and continued to explain.

"Ron. Your wife for all intents and purposes just had every law that was passed during Voldemort's control of the ministry declared invalid. I don't know about you, but I think that may piss a few people off."

Ron smiled, remembering how Hermione had trapped the Wizengamot into only one course of action. Damn I'm lucky to have her, he thought to himself.

"She was brilliant, wasn't she?" He asked proudly. "They never knew what hit them."

Harry gave up, he knew why Ron was opposed to having a protective detail set up for Hermione, and it had nothing to do with the fact he didn't think she had pissed some people off. He realized now, that Hermione would never accept a protective detail.

"Alright Ron," He sighed, "I won't assign her a detail, but you had better keep an eye on her."

"Thanks," Ron answered, "You just saved me a major headache."

The both laughed. Ron noticed Harry's attention suddenly was drawn to the entrance of the cafeteria. He looked over to see what had drawn his attention, and he saw Ginny standing in the lunch line. He knew that Ginny had come to see today's trial. Ron smiled as he watched his friend looking at his sister, as he asked.

"So what's up with you two?" He asked.

Harry turned to look at Ron. He did not seem to understand what Ron was talking about. He motioned towards Ginny. Harry just smiled and answered.

"Nothing is up with the two of us. We're just friends."

Ron gave Harry a knowing smile as he answered.

"For the last three weeks the two of you have spent every spare moment you have with each other."

Harry frowned. He then answered.

"She's been helping me get through a few things."

Ron knew Harry was talking about Emily's breaking up with him. Things had been tense with Harry and the Weasley family for a couple of weeks after she and Harry had split up. Harry had blamed them for what had happened with her at the hospital. Ron did not know what his sister said to Harry, but shortly after she talked to him the first time; Harry stopped blaming the Weasley's. Ron decided not to push the issue, but to his surprise Harry continued.

"I don't think I am the kind of man a girl would want to be involved with." Harry stated.

"Why do you say that?" Ron asked.

Harry just looked at him a minute then answered.

"Look what I did to Ginny, and Emily." He answered

Ron did not need to ask Harry what he was talking about. He knew Harry had a tendency to shut people out. Ron knew that was because of all that he had been through in the past. It was also the reason Harry had ended things with Ginny the first time. He did not want to put the people he loved in danger. Ron did not agree with Harry; however, he had never succeeded in getting Harry to change his mind about it either.

He stated the same argument he had used with Harry in the past.

"Harry,"

Harry just held up his hand. "Ron I know what you're going to say. Let's just say for now this is something I am working on, he looked up as Ginny approached the table.

"Can I join you?" She asked.

Before Harry could answer, Harry and Ron's radios went off.

"Code Red, Department of Magical Law, Code Red, Department of Magical law."

After working with Scotland Yard, and the Americans, Harry convinced the ministry that muggle radios modified to work in a magical environment was a much better way for the Department for Magical Law enforcement to communicate. Unlike a Patronus, you could have a two way conversation and exchange information much faster. The minister had agreed, and had given George Weasley the contract to develop the devices. George had already modified cell phones to work around magic, and all he had to do was use the same charms he did on the cell phones with on the radios.

Harry reached for his radio; he could see Ginny looking at the two of them, clearly worried.

As the radio finished the Code Red alert, Harry's radio sounded again.

"Rapid Response team, respond to the hostage situation, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Office 242."

As Harry was answering the radio call, Ginny voiced what he was thinking.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!"


	21. Hostage

20

Hostage

Doesn't anybody ever go on break? David Blaine stared into the Office of Magical Law. To his surprise, the office was crowded with ministry workers. When he had decided to take care of Granger, he figured that the offices would be practically empty. He planned to just walk into Granger's office, take care of her, and leave. He figured since the office would be fairly empty he would be able to accomplish this task without being seen.

For a brief second, Blaine thought about just forgetting about the whole thing. He had no desire to be caught. He just wanted to stop the Mudblood from doing any more damage to the Wizarding world. The travesty of the Werewolf legislation was one thing, he thought, but eliminating the laws that were put into place to preserve the purity of Wizards was something completely different. She had to be stopped, and since neither Malfoy nor Bledsoe had the balls to stop the bitch, it was up to him.

As David stood at the reception desk, he looked around the office itself, and was quickly able to locate Grangers office. Having located the office, he started to walk in that direction. As he walked around the reception desk, one of the staff addressed him.

"Excuse me sir, Can I help you."

Blaine just glared at the witch, and kept going. Best not to answer her he thought to himself. As he continued walking he heard her say as she stepped in front of him.

"Sir, you cannot come back here unless you have an appointment with one of the Barristers."

David put his hands in his robe, and grabbed the gun he had in his pocket as he stepped around the receptionist. He would not use the weapon unless she did more to prevent him from getting to Grangers office. Blaine was relieved when the receptionist made no further attempt to stop him.

David continued to walk through the reception area, towards Grangers office. As he approached the door to her office, he was relieved to see that no one was in the office with her. Maybe her coworkers saw her for what she really was, a filthy mudblood, he thought to himself. As he approached her door, a voice called to him from behind.

"Sir, you will need to leave this area immediately."

There was no mistaking the authority in that voice. The receptionist had not just let him pass. She had summoned a security wizard instead. David slowly turned to face the security wizard. As he turned he could see the Wizard had his wand trained on him. As David turned to face him he drew his gun and before the security Wizard could react he fired two rounds at him, he then quickly turned and ran for Hermione Grangers office, gun drawn.

Hermione stepped into her office, and smiled as she sat at her desk. She could not believe how well things went in court this morning. Draco walked right into the trap she had laid out for him, using the Pureblood Marriage Act to justify forcing Katrina Walker to marry Theodore Knott.

Hermione had to stifle a laugh as she remembered the look on Malfoy's face when he realized what she had done. Oh Hermione would love to take credit for her brilliant maneuvering in the court room. The fact was the idea to use the shadow of Voldemort's reign to force the Wizengamot to dismiss the Pureblood Marriage Act and by precedent any other laws passed during the time Voldemort controlled the ministry belonged to her brilliant husband, Ron.

Hermione once again found herself smiling as she remembered the pride in her husband's eyes as she left the court room. She swore she could hear Ron bragging to those sitting in the gallery with him, "That's my wife."

Today, Hermione had a lot to be happy about; a husband that truly loved her, and a career that allowed her to make a difference. She placed her hand on her belly, she was now about three months along and could feel the beginnings of a baby bump, that was the thing she had the most to be happy about. She was about to become a mum.

Hermione started to go over the reports on her desk. In addition to her normal caseload she was also supervising three Solicitors as well. That was why she had come to her office during the lunch recess. She needed to catch up on her paperwork.

Hermione quickly fell into her normal routine. She reviewed the reports from her solicitors and would occasionally make a suggestion on the case she was reviewing and send the report back to the Solicitor assigned to the case. She had been working steadily for about twenty minutes when she was startled by a couple of loud reports.

Hermione quickly looked up to see what was going on. She noticed a Security Wizard falling down outside her office, and a young man with a gun rushed into her office and slammed her door shut. The young man looked familiar but she could not immediately place a name to his face. He looked at her, and with a voice filled with hatred and contempt he said to her.

"Look what you made me do you stupid bitch!" He then pointed his gun at her.

Blaine's mind was racing as he quickly stepped into Granger's office. The bitch looked up as he slammed her door, and her eyes widened with fear when she saw the gun in his hands. He said something to her, but his mind was racing so fast he was not exactly sure what he said. Blaine knew he had to change everything. His plan of just killing Granger and leaving was now out the window. He looked out the window on the door and could see the workers that had been working through their lunch being evacuated by the security wizards that had arrived.

Nope, he was going to have to change his plan. The question was how he was going to get out of the ministry without ending up in Azkaban, or worse. Looking at Granger, he started to form a plan. He would use Granger to get out of this. The ministry would not dare let one of the heroes of the second war be killed. He would hold the threat of her death, and the possibility of her release as a bargaining chip to get out of this. Sure he would not be able to kill her, but he would be free to try again another time if he could just get out of this.

***

Ron felt his heart pounding in his chest as he and Harry ran towards the lifts. Ginny tried to follow, however Harry was able to convince her to stay in the atrium. He told her things would be chaotic enough, and he did not need to have to worry about protecting a civilian. Ginny did try to argue with him, but in the end she realized that Harry was right.

Once Harry convinced Ginny to wait in the atrium he turned to Ron.

"Don't even think it Harry," Ron growled, "That's my wife up there"

"We don't even know if Hermione is even involved…" Ron cut Harry off before he could finish.

"Come off it Harry. We both know…"

The lift arrived, and the two of them got on quickly. The ride to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement seemed to take forever. Ron found himself thinking of all the plans he and Hermione had made. They were going to have at least one more child after this one. They had been debating on names. So far they had not agreed on one yet.

They were going to buy a house, near the burrow.

They were going to make up for all the time they wasted, denying how they felt about each other in school. They were going to officially be remarried once the laws were changed, and they could. As Ron thought about it, all his dreams and plans for the future involved one person, Hermione. With all of that at stake, there was no way Ron was going to just sit in the atrium and wait. Ron knew he was one of the best tactical minds in the ministry. He had devised many of the strategies that Harry's Rapid Response Team used when making raids, or handling incidents.

Ron had helped Harry and his teams handle several muggle barricaded suspect situations to a successful conclusion. He needed to be involved today; it was the only way he knew to make sure Hermione came out of this ok.

The lift opened and, Ron looked at. The hallway leading to the Department of Magical Law was chaos. Several minister security wizards were arguing with what appeared to be senior members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. They were fighting over he was to handle the situation. He also saw Luna, along with her medical team arguing with another officer from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad.

As Luna argued she pointed her finger in the direction of Hermione's office.

Ron's heart stopped when he saw that Luna was pointing to someone lying on the floor, bleeding.

"If that man dies," Luna was stating angrily, "Because you would not allow me to treat him, you will…"

The MLE officer interrupted her.

"If you are hurt or killed because I let you into an area that is not secure I would be in even more trouble Ms. Lovegood."

Ron recognized the voice of the head of the MLE squad as he answered Luna.

As he finished his statement, he noticed Ron and Harry and excused himself. As he approached the two of them, Ron could see he was not happy.

"Potter," he hissed, "What are you doing here?"

"Responding to a," Harry looked at Ron as he finished "Hostage situation."

Ron always thought that Hargrove was an asshole. He was a throwback to the old ministry under Fudge, and Scrimgour. He really wasn't interested in doing what was right, but protecting his turf. Hargrove saw Harry's Rapid Response team as a threat to his MLE squad. The MLE had the responsibility for the day to day enforcement of Wizarding laws. The MLE could be compared to most local muggle police departments, and the Aurors were best compared to the federal law enforcement agencies of the US like the FBI. Just like the states, there was a bit of animosity between the two agencies.

Hargrove glared at Harry as he spoke;

"This isn't a matter for the Aurors, my department can handle this."

Harry struggled to hold back his anger. He had no use for people like Hargrove. Hargrove did not care about whoever was being held hostage, he just wanted to protect his turf. He had done this in the recent past. He refused to call Harry's team, stating it was an MLE matter. The result was several of his officers had been killed. It seemed he still had not learned his lesson.

"Look Hargrove," Harry tried to sound sympathetic, "I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here. However," Harry continued, "After your last incident I have no choice; the minister wants my squad to handle these situations right now."

Hargrove did not hide his anger Harry continued. "Why don't you bring me up to speed so I can deploy my team.

It only took Hargrove a few minutes to brief Harry, as he had feared Hermione had been taken hostage. Once Hargrove finished with Harry, Luna quickly came to him. He assured her that she would be able to get to her patient as soon as his team secured the area.

It only took a few minutes for his team to deploy, once deployed they escorted Luna's medics to the downed security officer. She quickly stabilized him and apparrated him to St. Mungo's. That completed Harry needed to form a plan of attack. This found Harry, studying the plans for the MLE section with Ron.

"Only one way in," Ron was stating, "Hermione triggered the new security measures as well."

Harry sighed. This would make things more difficult for his team. The new security measures were an anti-magic charm, making the casting of spells in Hermione's office impossible. That meant they could not use magic to subdue Blaine. In theory his inability to use magic should make things safe for any hostages. However, Blaine was using a gun.

Harry sighed. He would have to do this one by the book.

"Ok, let's start negotiations." Harry looked at Ron, "Let's see if we can talk him out."

Ron nodded his head. "I'll get my…"

Ron had acted as a negotiator during the last couple of times his team helped the muggles. Ron had done such a good job that Harry appointed him the teams lead hostage negotiator.

"Ron," Ron looked at Harry, Harry could see in his eyes he knew what was coming. "I'll handle the negotiations. You're too close to this situation." He stated

Ron shot back "And you're not?"

"That's not my wife in that room." Harry responded calmly, he would have been surprised if Ron did not argue.

Ron just nodded his head.

"Ron," Harry said gently, "I need you on tactical on this one."

Ron just nodded again.

***

Hermione was more scared than she ever had been before. Sure she was frightened when Umbridge had taken her, and even during the final battle at Hogwarts. The thing was, she knew what to expect in those situations. She had no idea what to expect in this situation.

It was clear that Blaine had intended to simply kill her. However that plan had been blown when the staff called security when he had forced his way back to her office. Now he was trapped. It appeared he was hoping to use her as leverage to get away.

Blaine had been talking with Harry for the last two hours. However it was clear to Hermione that Harry's attempt to end this through negotiations was falling a bit short. She listened as Blaine once again shouted at Harry.

"Potter, you are not listening to me!" Blaine looked at her as he shouted, "I want a full pardon from the minister, and I want the Pureblood Marriage Act approved by the minister."

"Blaine," She heard Harry respond. "I understand that's what you want, and I am trying to work on getting that done for you. I need you to give me something in good faith. Release Hermione, you can stay here while we work on your request. But releasing Hermione will show good faith on your part."

Blaine laughed as he looked at Hermione. "Do you think I am stupid Potter?" He pointed his gun at Hermione as he continued. "Granger is my only leverage right now. The minute I release her, you'll come storming in here. "

That is why he hasn't killed me yet, Hermione thought to himself. He thinks he can use me as leverage. She knew she shouldn't say anything, but Harry was getting nowhere.

"Blaine," she said just loud enough for Harry to hear her.

Blaine turned and shouted at her, "Shut up" He shouted at her, again pointing his gun at her. "I told you I do not care what you have to say mudblood."

Hermione bit her lip. But she continued speaking

"Look Blaine," She said sounding much calmer than she felt, "We both know the minister is not going to give you a pardon, and any vote made by the Wizengamot would be considered invalid if made under duress."

Blaine stood up and held up his hand, getting ready to hit her. Before he did Hermione spoke quickly.

"What you need is a good Barrister to help you after this is over…"

"I wouldn't have needed anything if you had just minded your own business." Blaine shouted as he began to beat Hermione with the butt of his gun.

***

"Observer to Command, urgent."

Harry could hear Blaine shouting through the door, as he responded to the call, he thought to himself. This cannot be good.

"Command" He answered.

"HT has turned on the hostage. He is now beating her with his weapon."

Ron stood up quickly. Harry motioned to him to not do anything.

Harry needed more information before he did anything rash.

Over the next few seconds it was clear that Blaine had lost control. He was beating Hermione around the head with the butt of his gun. He had to do something, he could not wait. Damn it Hermione, he thought to himself. He figured she had said something to set Blaine off. Sometimes that girl was just too smart for her own good. He was sure she thought she would be able to talk Blaine into giving up. Whatever she had said had the opposite effect, now he was going to beat her to death instead.

"Sniper team, do you have a shot?" He asked.

Harry was handling this situation the way the muggles would, since they would not be able to use any spells. As part of his deployment he deployed a sniper team that would try to neutralize the Hostage Taker if things got out of hand. He hoped he would not need them, but it was clear now things had gotten a bit out of hand.

"No Shot command," the sniper team responded.

Harry swore to himself. He had no choice, he was going to have to breach, and try to take Blaine down with his entry team. He knew there were a lot of things that could go wrong with a breach, but he had no choice. He looked at Ron, and could see Ron was ready to storm into Hermione's office on his own. Harry had to get control of the situation fast.

"Entry team. Breach now!" He commanded.

Harry was not part of the entry team, since he was the lead negotiator. Normally he would be part of the entry team, however this time all Harry could do is wait and hope that nothing went terribly wrong.

***

Hermione felt a sharp pain as the butt of Blaine's gun hit her in the head. She put her hands up to try and block a second blow to her face; however this time she felt a sharp jab to her stomach. Hermione had hoped she would be able to talk some sense into Blaine, but all she did is enrage him, and she was taking the full force of that rage as he beat her.

She felt the gun hit her in the nose and felt blood start to pour out of her nose, and she knew her nose was broken. The beating seemed to go on forever as Blaine hit her over and over again. She felt herself losing consciousness.

She was jarred awake by the sound of a loud bang. Then she saw Blaine turn and face the door. Hermione realized that Ron and Harry were coming in to stop Blaine from hurting her. She watched as Blaine turned towards the door, and started to raise his gun. This time he had the gun in position to fire. Hermione could not let Blaine hurt Ron or Harry, so she did the only thing she could. She grabbed Blaine's arm and pulled it as hard as she could. She then heard a loud bang, and felt a sharp punch to her abdomen…

***

Ron listened anxiously as the entry team made its way into Hermione's office. He winced as he heard the sound of the flash bang grenades go off. Then he heard a gunshot, then several others. Then it was quite.

The quite seemed to last ages, Ron needed to know if everything was ok, but all he heard was silence. Ron knew the entry team was doing their job, making sure the room was secure and the situation was truly over. Finally Ron heard, "HT down."

Ron felt relief it was over.

However Ron's relief was short lived when he heard the next transmission.

"Hostage Down, we need medics now."


	22. Recovery

First all I want to thank friend of Molly for all of her wonderul reviews and feedback. It is nice to know that someone is enjoying my hard work. I once again want to thank Astrobomber my beta who is now making sure of my spelling and grammer. That can be a huge job sometimes and his hard work is appreciated.

I also want to apologize for the delay in this chapter. I was sick with the flu, for about a week and to be perfectly blunt this was a particularly hard chapter to write. However I have completed it and here it is.

This story is almost finished. It looks like there will be 3 maybe four more chapters. However do not be sad as I already have the beginnings of a new story already in mind. Please continue to read and review; I lover reviews in the morning, because reviews mean readers.

21

Recovery

All the moments of great sadness in Ron Weasley's life could be associated with one person; Hermione Granger. Sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungos, waiting for word on his wife's condition, Ron could remember each and every one of those moments, from the time she was petrified by a basilisk her second year, to her being captured and tortured by Deloris Umbridge just two years ago.

Ron also knew that some of the happiest memories of his life also were about Hermione. From the way she danced with him at his brother Bill's wedding, to the way she beat him when he returned to her during the hunt for the Horcruxes. From her agreeing to marry him, she had made him the happiest when she informed him that he was going to be a father.

Ron sighed as he looked around the waiting area. He and his family had spent way too much time in rooms like this. He could see his mother looking at him, worried. He knew she desperately wanted to come over and comfort him, but she also knew he needed his space right now. Harry was sitting in another corner, beside himself with worry, being comforted by his sister Ginny. Ron wondered what their story was. He knew they had been seeing a lot of each other lately and he wondered if they were getting back together as a couple. Ron smiled to himself as he reminded himself it was really none of his business…just as Ginny would have told him.

The rest of the Weasley clan was present as well, each of them trying to comfort each other as they waited on news on Hermione. Hermione had been adopted as an honorary Weasley long before she and Ron became girlfriend and boyfriend. Ron closed his eyes and tried telling himself that his wife and baby were ok…

Harry knew deep in his heart he was not responsible for what happened to Hermione. However that did not stop him from blaming himself. He should have seen what was going to happen and taken action to prevent it. Instead he wasted time trying to negotiate with Blaine. The end result being Blaine had been killed and his adopted sister lie in a treatment room at St Mungo's fighting for her life.

The Auror's found that Blaine had a lot to lose if the pureblood marriage act was repealed. The team found that he was involved in an arranged marriage. His fiancé had made it clear that if the pureblood marriage act was overturned she had no intention of marrying him. So it appeared that Blaine planned on killing Hermione, to prevent her from changing the law. Blaine never had any intention of letting Hermione out of her office alive.

Blaine had been forced to change his plan by the arrival of the ministry security officer, who was also being treated at St. Mungo's. Word was that the security officer would recover from his wounds. So they had been lucky so far that Blaine was the only fatality from this afternoon's incident.

Harry was so lost in his own thoughts he did not hear Ginny as she sat down next to him. He became aware of her presence when he felt her gently take him into her arms to comfort him. The two of them sat like that for several minutes. Neither of them saying anything, they were just two people seeking comfort during another hard time.

"Thanks Ginny." Harry whispered softly.

"You looked like you needed a friend." Ginny answered softly.

Harry looked into her eyes. He was not sure what he saw in her eyes. He knew over the last few weeks he began to feel something for the younger Weasley. He just wasn't sure if it was just friendship or something more. Given their history, he figured that all Ginny was interested in was being friends. However Harry could not pass up the chance to find out if maybe she might want more.

"Just friends…?" He asked softly.

Ginny looked at him, clearly surprised at his statement. Harry and Ginny locked eyes for what seemed like forever before she answered him.

"For now," she answered, "but you never know what is going to happen in the future." She added.

Harry could not help himself. He smiled back at Ginny. Over the last couple of weeks they had been like they were before her last year at Hogwarts. Harry had to admit to himself he liked that. He wasn't sure where he wanted things to go with Ginny, but he was happy to hear that she was open to maybe something more.

For the most part, Luna Lovegood loved her job. She had the best of both worlds, treating patients at St. Mungos as a healer and also the adrenaline rush that came with going out on rescue calls in the field as a mediwitch. The thing she liked about her field work is she got to treat her patients from her first contact in the field to their stay at St. Mungos.

However, there was one part of her job that she hated. She would never get used to having to deliver bad news to a patient's family. She never got used to the sadness that normally came with the bad news. She always tried to comfort the families after delivering her bad news. She did not agree with the established policy of cold indifference most of her colleagues followed. Luna believed that families also needed treatment after receiving news that was normally life changing.

It was one thing to have to deliver bad news to a complete stranger. It was another to have to deliver that kind of news to someone she had considered a friend. That was the situation she found herself struggling with now. One of her colleagues offered to go out and speak to the Weasley's. She declined his offer; she owed it to Ron to tell him herself.

Luna took one last look at Hermione, before she stood up and headed out the door to talk to the Weasley's. She was still not sure what she would say, but she knew it would be better coming from her than someone else. Luna sighed as she opened the door to the waiting room.

The minute she stepped into the waiting room Ron stood up and started to walk towards her. She noticed Molly also start to stand up, however her husband took her by the hand and had her sit back down. Luna was relieved, as the rest of the Weasley's took their cue from Mr. Weasley and remained sitting. She noticed Ron give Harry a look, and he too along with Ginny stood up and headed over to meet her. As Ron, Harry and Ginny met her she thought to herself. Here goes nothing she thought to herself as she stepped out the door to the waiting room to face the Weasley's.

Luna looked at the sea of red heads in the waiting area as soon as she stepped into the waiting area. She was surprised that she did not see Ron amongst his family. She soon found him sitting off by himself, looking out the window at the London skyline. As she walked over to Ron, she saw out of the corner of her eye Molly Weasley quickly get up, before she could walk over however, Mr. Weasley put his arms around her and whispered softly to her. Molly glared at her husband, but she slowly sat down, watching Luna as she approached Ron. Ron must have been deep in thought because he did not hear her, or Harry and Ginny as they approached him. Luna gave Ginny a brief look, and then she said softly.

"Ron." She gently put her hand on his shoulder as she spoke.

Ron turned to look at her. She could see he had been crying. That explained why he was sitting by himself. When it came to showing his emotions, Ron was a very private person. He did not like people to see him when he was upset. Seeing Ron's tear streaked face broke Luna's heart. She knew the news she had would only make things worse for the young man.

"Luna," He said. Luna sat down next to Ron, taking his hands once she did. Ron didn't ask but she knew what he wanted to know.

"Ron." She looked at him for a few seconds. She was struggling with how to tell him what she had to. "Hermione was seriously injured."

Ron nodded; she could see he was fighting to control his emotions. As he struggled, Ginny put her arms around his shoulder in support. Luna could tell she was preparing for bad news.

"With the help of a muggle trauma specialist we have been able to stabilize her."

She heard Harry let out a sigh of relief.

Ron looked at her. His eyes showing relief, but she could tell he knew there was still more news.

"Ron," She fought back her own tears. This was one of the few people that Luna considered a friend and she knew what she was about to say was going to hurt him. However she had to tell him.

"We had to choose between Hermione and her baby."

Luna ignored Ginny as she gasped.

"We were able to save Hermione, but not your baby."

Ron just looked at Luna, a blank look in his eyes. After a few seconds, Luna slowly took Ron into her arms as he started to cry, mourning the loss of his first child.

The entire Weasley clan watched as Luna was speaking with Ron. The family was worried. They knew that Hermione Weasley had been seriously injured at the Ministry. They however did not know the extent of her injuries.

The Weasley brothers did their best to try and console Ron, however he was inconsolable. Ron was seen headed toward the window, and the brothers knew it would be best to leave him alone. The family spent the time quietly, each of them remembering something about the bushy haired girl that not only found a way into the family, but from an early age captured the heart of their youngest brother.

Most of the family knew that Ron had a thing about Hermione at the end of his first year because he would always talk about how irritating she was. The family watched as the two of them bickered constantly. It did not take long for the Weasley clan to realize the reason the two bickered was so that each of them would pay attention to the other.

It had been a long wait, but eventually the bickering turned to something else. Once the couple stopped bickering, it was clear they were deeply in love with each other. There had been little doubt that Ron and Hermione Granger would marry.

The family noticed a dramatic change in their younger brother after he married Hermione. He was more relaxed and easygoing than he had been in the past. More importantly he found his self confidence. The family gave credit for these changes to the one person they knew had always believed in Ron Weasley, his wife Hermione.

Not one of the Weasley's voiced what the family was thinking. What would losing Hermione do to their youngest brother? So the Weasley's watched as Luna talked with Ron, hoping for signs of good news.

Molly let out a cry of anguish as Luna took a sobbing Ron into her arms and started to comfort him. It just was not fair, after everything Ron and Hermione had been through. Molly was not the only one that started to cry. Collectively the Weasley's started to mourn the loss of one of their own, each trying to find some comfort in each other.

Harry looked over at the Weasley's he knew right away they had misinterpreted the news. He took Ginny by the hand and nodded towards the family. He gently wiped a tear out of her eye and the two of them approached the family.

"Guys," Harry said softly.

"Harry," Molly asked, "Can Arthur and I go with you and Ron when you tell her parents?"

Harry took and gently squeezed Molly's hand as he answered.

"That won't be necessary Molly."

Molly started to answer Harry, but he gently placed his finger over her lip to silence her.

"Molly, Hermione's stable."

He could hear a collective sigh of relief from the Weasley's

"However, she lost the baby."

Molly buried her head into her husband's shoulder as she too began to mourn the loss of her unborn grandchild.

Hermione opened up her eyes. She slowly took in her surroundings, and realized she was in a hospital bed. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. She heard the sound of someone snoring and looked to see Ron sleeping in a chair by her bed. She wondered how long he had been sitting there. By the look of his clothes it had been quite a while.

She thought about how she ended up in the hospital…again. She remembered Blaine starting to hit her with the butt of his gun, and fighting with him. Then she remembered feeling like she had been hit in the gut. She looked down and saw that she had bandages around her lower stomach area.

She heard Ron stir, and looked over to see that Ron was now awake. She smiled at her husband weakly and whispered.

"Hey you."

Ron got out of his chair and approached her bed. He gently caressed her face and kissed her gently on the lips.

"'Moine." He said softly, taking her hand. "I thought I lost you."

Hermione smiled at Ron.

"I'm here Ron." She answered, "Me and the baby are here."

Something in Ron's eyes told her something was wrong.

"Ron," She said, trying not to sound frightened.

Ron looked away from her; she could see he was fighting back tears as he looked away. She knew he hated for anyone to see him cry. She squeezed his hand, as she felt the familiar feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach. She had an idea of what was wrong, but she wanted to hear it. It would not be true, unless someone said it out loud.

"Ron, what is it?" She asked softly.

Ron looked at her. She could tell he was struggling to maintain his composure. She also knew he was trying to be strong for her. She didn't need him to be strong for her; she needed him to tell her what was going on. She did not say anything to her husband, she just watched him as he struggled to find a way to tell her what she already knew. Her heart was pounding as Ron finally spoke.

"Hermione," his voice cracked as he spoke, "We lost the baby."

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears but nothing she could do would stop them. She and her husband cried together over their loss.

After five days, Hermione was released from St. Mungo's.

The couple decided that even though their baby had not been born, they wanted to have a funeral. They named their son Fabian, after one of Ron's uncles that had been killed during the first war. So on a cold and dreary day they laid Fabian to rest.

The entire Weasley clan was at the funeral. Offering what little comfort and support they could to the devastated couple. Even though the two were devastated at the loss of their child they found comfort in each other. Each one supporting the other, helping each other work through the grief.

They decided to bury Fabian next to Fred at the burrow. As the couple stood saying their final goodbyes to their son, they heard footsteps approaching from behind.

They turned to see Kingsley approaching the grave.

"Ron, Hermione." He said gently, "First let me tell you how sorry I am over your loss."

"Thank you Minister." Ron answered.

"Ron," Kingsley said gently, "Please call me Kingsley, that's what all my friends call me."

Ron did not answer, so Kingsley addressed Hermione.

"Hermione, I wanted to let you know the Wizengamot has overturned the pureblood marriage act."

Hermione gave him a weak smile.

"That being the case," He handed Hermione a parchment as he spoke, "I have taken the liberty of dismissing your divorce, and you and Ron are once again legally married."

The couple stood stunned for just a minute, and then they both thanked Kingsley. They knew they would get through this loss together, now as husband and wife. They knew it would take time, but they knew in the end that they would be ok.


	23. dirty Laundry

Authors Note: First I want to apologize for how long it has taken me to post this chapter. This was a very hard chapter to write because of what I want to happen with Harry and Ginny. Also Redemption is coming to an end, and I want to do the ending to this story write.

I think I have re written this one at least 40 times...So please I would love to hear what you think of this chapter.

Dirty Laundry

_We can do the innuendo  
We can dance and sing  
When its said and done we haven't told you a thing  
We all know that crap is king  
Give us dirty laundry!_

_Dirty Laundry-Don Henley  
_

Harry could not take his eyes off Ginny Weasley. Over the last several weeks she had helped him work through his break up with Emily. Harry laughed at himself, face it Potter, Emily walked away from you. He spent the first week, before Ginny had shown up at his flat wondering what had happened with Emily.

Ginny was able to help him understand how Emily must have felt, and when he looked back he could not really blame Emily from walking away. He had shut her out, and did not really let her in. Ginny pointed out to him he had done the same thing with her, and at times she felt more like an outsider than his fiancé. In addition to helping him work out what had happened with Emily, she gave him some insight as to what happened with the two of them. Apparently Harry was not an easy boyfriend.

He found himself spending a lot of time with Ginny. From just simply flying with her, to just hanging out together at the Burrow after one of Molly's famous family dinners. He also found that he really regretted the fact that he and Ginny were no longer a couple. He found himself once again falling hard for the youngest Weasley. He knew nothing would come of his feelings; she had made her choice when she broke up with him over two years ago. However, he was happy to just have her back as a friend.

Harry was watching Ginny as she talked with the reporters, every so often she would look at him and give him her patented mischievous look as she answered the questions being posed to her by the members of the press. Harry did not see the blonde woman approach him.

"Harry!" Harry was startled by the sound of the voice addressing him. He turned to see who it was and felt a flash of anger as he looked at Rita Skeeter.

Rita just looked at him, a false smile plastered on her face.

"What a pleasant surprise." She cooed, "These team press dinners are such a bore."

Rita reached into her purse and pulled out her famous quick quotes quill.

Harry glared at the reporter as she asked.

"So is it true that your muggle girlfriend has ended things with you?" She continued sweetly, "Why is it you have so much trouble with the ladies Harry?"

Harry bit his tongue. He knew it would be better if he did not answer.

Rita continued "Oh I suppose one could understand, after all it cannot be easy to be Harry Potter's girlfriend can it. Was it because you were more famous than she was?"

Over the next minute Rita continued to question Harry about what had happened with him and Emily. Finally, it seemed Rita was getting frustrated with Harry's refusal to answer her questions about Emily, and caught Harry by surprise with her next question.

"So who are you here with Harry? After all this is an invitation only event and I doubt even the great Harry Potter could just gate crash tonight's dinner?"

Without thinking Harry looked at Ginny as Rita finished the question. Before he realized his mistake Rita asked.

"Isn't that Miss Weasley?" Rita broke into a knowing smile.

"So you came with Miss. Weasley?" She asked.

"That's none of your business." Harry answered sharply.

Rita raised her eyebrows, as she watched as Ginny smiled at Harry. She smiled and said

"Don't worry Harry, You're secret is safe with me." And she slowly walked away. As Harry watched the retreating form of Rita Skeeter he suddenly found he was actually very worried.

***

Emily was exhausted. She just finished putting in another long day at the set. Since she had broken up with Harry she had thrown herself into her work in an effort to forget about him. The good thing was her costars and director had told her she was putting in the best performance of her career. The fact that her characters heart had been broken, considering she was hurting in real life she found she really did not have to act.

She knew that ending her relationship with Harry had been the right thing for her to do. She knew that she did not belong in Harry Potter's world. His was a world of magic where the dark wizards that were only a movie fantasy in her world were very real in his. She knew that was not the kind of world she wanted to live in, so in the end she had to walk away. The fact that she had fallen in love with Harry was beside the point. In the end she knew she would lose him. So she ended things before that would happen. Better to deal with a little hurt now than a total broken heart later.

So over the last few weeks Emily concentrated on her future. She came to terms with the studio over the next two films of the series she was working on. She applied to go to university, deciding some time away from England would do her some good she applied to schools in the United States. She was moving on with her life.

That still did not mean she did not miss Harry, and the friends that she had made in the Wizarding world. She kept up with what was going on with them by reading the Daily Prophet. She was saddened when she read that Hermione and Ron had lost their baby, she considered sending Hermione a sympathy card, but decided against it.

She did keep in touch with Ginny, exchanging owls every few days. Ginny was careful not to tell her about Harry specifically, but she knew that the guy Ginny was spending a lot of time with was Harry. She hoped that in the end that Ginny would take care of Harry, after all they had history.

So it was the end of another very long day, and Emily was exhausted. She just wanted to get to her flat, have a relaxing dinner and then curl up with a good book. She had the next couple of days off and was looking forward to the break. As she stepped out of the studio she ignored the flashes of the cameras. She was used to the constant badgering from the paparazzi so she, as she normally did, ignored the questions being shouted at her.

However, she stopped dead when she heard the question shouted at her by a blond woman she had never seen before.

"Emily, can you tell us how you feel about Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley having an affair while you and he were dating?"

Emily quickly turned to face the blonde reporter, however before she could answer the other paparazzi started shouting questions about the supposed affair as well. Emily quickly turned and ran to the car that was waiting fighting back her tears.

***

Harry was woken from a sound sleep by the sound of someone pounding on his front door. Harry groaned as he looked at the clock. It was just too damn early in the morning. He had been out until very early in the morning with a certain red haired witch. Maybe if I just ignored the knocking they would go away.

A few seconds later he was once again disturbed by the sound of knocking. Whoever it was they were not going away. Grumbling Harry threw his covers off, grabbing a robe he walked to the front door grumbling all the way.

"This had better be life and death." Harry stated groggily as Ron greeted him.

"Morning mate," Ron said as he walked into the flat, he looked at Harry then stated,

"Rough night?"

Ron followed Harry to the kitchen and watched as Harry started to make a pot of coffee.

"Not really," Harry answered, "So what brings you to my door at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

Ron tossed Harry the copy of the daily prophet he had been holding.

Harry looked at the headlines, and then he looked up at Ron.

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was." Ron stated calmly. "I thought I would stop by and give you a heads up."

Harry gave Ron an incredulous look.

"Why would I need a heads up?" Harry asked, "No one is going to believe that bull."

Ron just laughed, and looked at Harry.

"Just like no one would have believed that Hermione was playing you and Victor Krum against each other."

Harry gave Ron a blank stare, and then he realized what Ron was getting at. Rita had printed an article implying Hermione was dating both Harry and Ron at the same time, and Mrs. Weasley had believed what she had read, giving Hermione the cold shoulder until Harry had set her straight.

"You don't think your mom would believe this rubbish?" Harry asked, Shocked.

"I don't know mate." Ron took the coffee that Harry offered him before he continued.

"I do know she noticed that you and Ginny have been spending a lot of time together." Ron stated cautiously.

Harry glared at Ron as he answered

"She's a friend." He answered curtly

Ron just looked at Harry for a second or two, trying to read his expression.

"You and she have history." He stated.

"I know that Ron," Harry stated angrily, "That is why we are going to be nothing more than just friends."

"Harry…"

Harry began to wonder what this was about, what was Ron playing at. He had never said anything about his hanging out with Ginny before. Suddenly it dawned on Harry where Ron was going. Ron thought that he and Ginny were getting back together romantically.

"Ron," Harry tried to hide how much what he was saying hurt, "Ginny made how she feels about me clear when she broke up with me. She made her choice and I just want her to be a friend so I can get my family back."

***

All Ginny could think to do was to laugh as she read the copy of the Prophet Hermione had given her when she arrived to her flat. It was either that or let herself get angry enough to go out and find Rita Skeeter and hex her. That not being possible the only thing left was to laugh. Ginny looked up and Hermione.

"You have to admit, she is a good fiction writer." Ginny stated.

Hermione smiled at Ginny, she could tell her best friend was fuming on the inside. She would not want to be Rita Skeeter. Hermione laughed and said.

"So you and…"

"How could you ask that?" Ginny threw the paper down and glared at Hermione.

Hermione sighed. She knew better. Harry and Ginny had not started hanging out with each other all the time until after Emily had broken up with Harry. She also knew that Ginny and Emily were still in touch with each other. Not something one did with the women her boyfriend was having an affair with.

"You're going to be asked, you know that don't you?"

Ginny growled, and stated. "It's none of their business."

"That may be true, but…"

"I know." Ginny stated, "Why can't they just leave us alone?" Ginny whispered softly.

Hermione arched her eyebrows at Ginny's statement.

"Ginny," She chose her words carefully, after all she did not want to be on the receiving end of one of Ginny's famous bat bogey hexes, "Are you and Harry?"

"No." Ginny answered sadly, looking at her feet.

Hermione gently lifted Ginny's chin so she could look at her. She had never seen such a sad look in her friends face before.

"Gin?" she asked gently.

That was all she needed to say, it was like a dam burst, and Ginny could not help but voice what she had been starting to feel for Harry.

"I can't help it Hermione, I'm falling for him all over again, well maybe it's more so that I am remembering all the reasons I loved him. Either way it doesn't matter though." She stated miserably.

"Love always matters," Hermione answered.

Ginny looked at Hermione and smiled sadly.

"I had my chance Hermione, and I blew it."

"Have you ever heard of second chances?" Hermione answered.

"After what I did to Harry last time, I am just happy he wants to be friends again. I could never hope for more than that." Ginny answered.

Hermione was not so sure Ginny was right; however she would have to wait until after she talked with Ron before she knew for sure. However, from everything she had observed over the last couple of weeks, she was sure that Harry felt the same way as Ginny.

***

Harry discreetly looked at Ginny as she was eating her lunch. He desperately wanted to talk to her about the article in the prophet. However it seemed that whenever he might get the chance Molly would come up with something for either one of them to do to help get dinner ready. Harry sighed to himself. He did not need to ask if Mrs. Weasley believed the article.

Molly did not say anything at all to Harry, about the article or anything in general. She was giving him the cold shoulder, the same as she did to Hermione when she thought she was dating both him and Victor Krum during the Tri Wizard Tournament. Another fine moment brought to Harry by the lovely Rita Skeeter, he thought to himself.

Harry did not take part in the evening's dinner conversation. He found his thoughts once again were of Ginny. They were once again starting to become friends. Would Rita Skeeter's article put an end to that? As he finished his dinner he looked up to Ginny, she caught his eye and looked towards the door. Her meaning clear, I'll meet you outside.

As the two of them started towards the door Harry found himself froze by a comment by Mrs. Weasley muttering under her breath shaking her head.

"I thought I raised my daughter better than this,"

***

Well that was not so bad Ginny thought to herself as she finally was able to catch Harry's attention. A little awkward, with the looks her mother was giving her, but all an all nowhere near as bad as she thought it would be. After reading the article this morning she fully expected to hear about how proper young ladies did not have affairs from her mother.

Ginny sighed to herself. She knew even if nothing was said today, she would have to face her mother. It did not matter if the story was true, it was in the paper. Whether true or not, Molly would point out, she still acted in a way that allowed the story to be written and a proper young witch just simply would not carry on that way.

Ginny loved her mother; however in some areas she found that her mother was just not in synch with the modern world. She was still in an age when a proper young witch just did not do the kind of things she did. So like it or not, she knew that at some point her and her mother would butt heads. It was inevitable.

Ginny motioned for Harry to meet her outside. She wanted to talk to him, and make him understand she knew they were just friends, and nothing more. She wished more than anything she could have another chance with Harry; however she also knew she had her chance and she blew it. The best she could hope for was to keep him as a friend and she was worried that Rita Skeeter had killed that chance with what she had written.

Harry started to get up, and she took that as her queue to leave as well. As she got up to leave she heard her mother whisper under her breath. Ginny tried to fight her temper, however she had too much of her mother in her, and she failed miserably.

Ginny whirled around to face her mother and asked loudly

"Just what do you mean by that Mum?" She glared at her mother as she waited for her to answer.

Ginny could tell her mother was caught by surprise. Usually when she muttered her comments no one responded to them, they ignored them. Ginny could not ignore this, her mother clearly thought she was some kind of slag or something and she just could not let it go.

She saw her mother's face turn red, so Ginny knew that the row she was hoping would not happen was here.

"I mean I thought I taught you better Ginevra." Molly answered back, barely holding back her own anger.

"Better?" Ginny asked, "Better than what Mum?" Ginny asked angrily

That was it for Molly, the dam burst and Molly Weasley let Ginny know exactly what she meant by better. As she spoke she got louder, and louder, finally coming to the crux of the whole matter.

"And I thought I taught my daughter better than to have a tawdry affair with a man that is already involved with another woman like some kind of…"

Ginny interrupted her mother, her anger giving away to hurt.

"Like some kind of what?" She asked, trying hard not to let how much her mother's words had hurt her, "Go ahead mother, finish what you were going to say!" Ginny demanded

Molly just looked away, clearly not wanting to say something she would regret. However it was too late. She had already said enough, so Ginny answered for her.

"So you think I'm some kind of slag?" Ginny asked succeeding in sounding both incredibly hurt and angry at the same time, "Is that what you think Mum, that your daughter is some slag that would just…"

Ginny never finished her statement, she suddenly felt weak in the knees and found herself suddenly sitting on the floor, crying.

***

Harry watched in horror as Molly and Ginny fought, he had seen some fights between Molly and her children, but this was by far the worst he had ever seen. The rest of the family just sat stunned, as the two women tore at each other emotionally. Finally Ginny collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face. That was too much for Harry, he just looked at Molly and stated,

"Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and I are not having an affair." He explained gently.

Molly turned her attention from Ginny to Harry.

"Harry, anyone with eyes can see there's something going on between the two of you." Before Harry could say anything she continued. "You two are always together, either flying or just going out. You rarely spend any time with Ron and Hermione because you're always with Ginny."

"Molly," Harry found himself also trying to hold back his temper, "Ginny and I are friends and she is helping me through a rough time, which is all…"

Molly scoffed at Harry's last statement before stating.

"Yes we can all see how she is helping you Harry; even your girlfriend could see that."

Harry glared at Molly and asked, "What are you saying Mrs. Weasley?"

Molly answered hotly, "We all know the reason Emily broke up with you was because you were seeing Ginny."

Harry had had enough. Molly was jumping to conclusions based on a pack of lies, written by someone that she knew had always had an agenda when it came to Harry Potter, and rather than taking his or her daughters word she chose to believe her. It was time to set Molly straight.

"Molly," Harry stated working hard to keep from shouting, "Ginny had nothing to do with why Emily broke up with me."

"Harry," Molly tried to sound gentle as she answered, "I don't know what you know about woman, but no woman is going to stand by while…"

Harry Interrupted Molly before she could finish what she was about to say.

"Molly!" Harry paused for just a few seconds before continuing, "Emily broke up with me because she felt she did not belong in my world."

Molly just looked at Harry for a minute, dumbfounded, then she stated.

"Why on earth would she think that?"

Harry did not mean for his answer to come out as harsh as it did, however he could no longer fight back his own anger, Mrs. Weasley it seemed had made up her mind, and it was time to set her straight.

"Maybe because the woman I considered to be like my mother ignored her any time she came over for dinner," He was not shouting at Molly, "But more than likely it was that my family completely ignored her while I was in the emergency room. They let her sit there by herself as the Hospital staff told her she did not belong there! Even worse, none of them even bothered to let her know I was ok and that she could come and see me!"

When Harry finished he turned and walked out the back door, and apparrated away from the Burrow.


	24. Our Solemn Hour

23

Our Solemn Hour

Draco did his best to keep his temper under control as the idiot Bledsoe droned on. Bledsoe had arrived at Malfoy Manor over an hour ago, and since then he was going on and on with his father on how badly Draco had failed. Bledsoe went on and on about how Draco had been defeated by a mudblood. Draco sighed as Bledsoe continued his tirade. He then looked at Draco and said hotly

"You have got to find a way to put that stupid mudblood down." Bledsoe stated angrily.

Draco glared at Bledsoe. The events of the last few weeks taught him nothing. He couldn't prove it but Draco firmly believed he had turned Blaine loose on Hermione in a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable. All he succeeded in doing is giving Hermione the sympathy of the Wizengamot and worse once again making her a hero of the Wizarding world. The lone voice of reason, fighting for justice and equality against bigoted old men.

"Granger may be a lot of things," Draco hissed, "but the one thing she is not is stupid."

Bledsoe looked at Ron, clearly shocked at his statement.

"Did you send Blaine after her?" Draco asked icily.

He heard his father gasp, in shock.

Unlike Bledsoe, his father had learned his lesson about Granger, and he knew you did not take on Granger without taking on the Weasley's. These days you did not want to take on the Weasley family. Since the end of the war the Weasley's had become one of the more prominent pureblood wizarding families in the Wizarding world, and they were very outspoken on equality for muggleborns and acceptance of muggles. His father did not say anything, but calmly listened to the exchange between his son and Bledsoe.

"And what if I did?" Bledsoe shot back, "Someone had to do something, and it was clear you were not up to the task."

"You're a fool." Draco answered back angrily.

Bledsoe answered angrily. "You forget your place Draco…"

Draco cut him off before Bledsoe could finish. "My place is to make sure that we still have a chance at winning our cause." He looked at his father, "This fool has no idea what he has done."

"Now, now Draco," Lucius said calmly, "We must not worry about blame here, but to find a way to salvage what we can from this debacle."

Draco took several deep breaths. He realized now that there had been a shift in power among those that wanted to keep the wizarding race pure. Bledsoe was no longer the one in charge. The movement was back where it needed to be, with the Malfoy family. Draco did not look at Bledsoe as he spoke, Bledsoe was now irrelevant. It was his father that was leading the movement now.

"Father. After what this fool has done," He glared at Bledsoe as he continued, "There is no way I can win the Walker case. Granger will win, and the laws will change."

Lucius Malfoy nodded in agreement. He too could see the writing on the wall.

"I understand Draco, so what do you suggest?"

Draco thought for a few minutes. He wanted to word what he was thinking very carefully. The Walker case was a precedent setting case, if won many of the forced arranged marriages from the past would be overturned. This could lead to the end of several prominent pureblood marriages that were only held together by the current laws that were not covered by the pureblood marriage act. Losing the Walker case would be devastating. Traditional pureblood children that did not want to marry the ones their parents had decided on would be free to marry whomever they wanted. Bloodlines would be polluted.

As he was thinking, the solution to the problem dawned on him. Granted the solution was not perfect and they would lose one pureblood line, but it would preserve the others. He could not defeat Granger, but he could deny her the victory she was looking for. He looked at his father.

"We withdraw or case." He stated calmly.

Bledsoe shouted, "You can't be serious."

Bledsoe was immediately silenced by a cold look from Draco's father. His father then looked at his son. "Explain how this benefits us."

Draco smiled. He could not win the Walker case, but he could still deny Granger a victory.

"If we withdraw our case, then there will be no judgment by the Wizengamot, there would be no new precedent to change the current laws."

Lucius looked at Draco proudly as he stated coolly. "A stalemate"

Ginny needed to find Harry. She knew he was upset over the confrontation they just had with her mother. Ginny could not believe her mother would think so little of her and Harry that they would have an affair. Honestly, Ginny thought to herself, she wondered if her mother really knew her at all.

It was Ron that had set Molly straight after Harry left. Ginny had never been as proud of her brother as she was as he watched him take on his mother, not with anger, but with confronting her with the cold hard facts. Ginny smiled as the replayed the scene in her head

"_Merlin," Molly said as she sat down, clearly shaken by what Harry had just said, "He can't really blame us for Emily breaking up with him, can he?" She asked no one in particular._

"_Actually, Mum, I think in some way we were a contributing factor to what happened with Harry and Emily"_

_Molly looked at her youngest son, clearly surprised, It was a rhetorical question, and Molly did not expect anyone to answer her. She looked at Ron and before she asked Ron continued. _

"_When Harry had been hurt and was at the Hospital, where was Emily?" Ron asked his mother._

_Molly looked at Ron as she tried to remember that day. She remembered being with Ron and Hermione as well as the rest of the Weasley's. She however could not remember Emily being there. _

"_I don't believe Emily was their Ron. After all St Mungo's…"_

_Ron interrupted her. _

"_She was there Mum, I picked her up and bought her to St. Mungo's myself."_

_Molly gasped, Ron held up his hand clearly asking her to let him finish._

"_You weren't the only one Mum. I did not realize she was by herself until she was leaving."_

"_Why would she leave? If she cared for Harry…"_

_Ron stopped her. _

"_She was leaving because she was asked to leave by the hospital staff." Ron sighed, "I tried to set thing right but it was too late, she already felt like she didn't belong there."_

_Molly just looked at her son. Clearly not believing what she was hearing. _

"_Mum," Ron said softly, "That really is not today's issue." Ron paused before continuing, "Harry said those things to you because he was angry. You were blaming Ginny for Emily and Harry breaking up. He was trying to point out to you that Ginny had nothing to do with that."_

"_But it says.."_

"_Mum," Ron said gently, "Do you remember what happened the last time you believed something Rita Skeeter had written?"_

_Molly looked at Ron for a few minutes then she said softly, "Oh My,"_

Ginny had never been more proud of Ron than she was at that moment. He had stood up to his mother, something none of his brothers had ever done. The only problem they had was to find Harry.

Hermione quickly stood up and said she was going to find and talk to Harry. Ginny took her shoulder and said "I think I know where he might be, let me talk to him."

Hermione looked at Ginny for a few seconds and then nodded her head.

Many witches and Wizards that enjoyed flying would tell you that it was the feeling of the wind rushing through your hair that they enjoyed. Others would talk longingly about the freedom they felt soaring through the skies like a bird. However the thing that Harry liked the most about flying was being in control. He chose how fast or how high he would fly. He chose the direction he would fly in. He chose when to take off and when to last. It was all up to him. No outside influences affected how and where Harry would fly.

So it should not be a surprise to anyone that knew Harry Potter that when he felt that things in his life were spiraling out of control, he found comfort in flying on his broomstick. Things in his life were definitely spinning out of his control. The horrified look on Ginny's face as her mother talked about she and Harry was all Harry needed to see. It was painfully clear to Harry that the speculation over her and his relationship bothered her.

Why shouldn't it? Harry asked himself, she had made it clear when she ended things with him that Ginny Weasley did not want any kind of romantic relationship with him. Over the last few weeks with her, he thought that maybe things had changed with her. However her expression as her mother confronted her over his and hers "Relationship," told Harry all he needed to know. She was not interested in anything more than a friendship, and judging by her mother's reaction to Rita Skeeter's latest news story, she probably would not even want that with him now.

Harry tried not to think about the last few weeks. It had been almost like he had come home with Ginny. For the first time since Emily had broken up with him he allowed himself to be happy. The reason for that happiness was he and Ginny seemed to reconnect. Harry had allowed himself the small hope that maybe Ginny might come back to him. Harry now knew for sure that that was not going to happen. That was the reason he blew at Molly. Not the things that she had said about Emily, but the fact that she forced the issue of he and Ginny, and it was clear Ginny was not interested in pursuing a relationship with Harry. Why else would she have looked so mortified?

As Harry banked he was surprised to see a flash of red hair taking a seat in the stands. He knew right away the size of the person sitting down that it was Ginny. Harry slowly flew to where Ginny was sitting. His heart was pounding as he landed and sat next to her, he really did not want to hear her explain to him how it would not be a good idea if the continued to be together.

It did not take long for Ginny to figure out where Harry had gone. She knew that when Harry was troubled he would find his way to the Hogwarts quidditch pitch, where as Harry told her once, he could try and fly away from his troubles. Ginny knew Harry enjoyed the release flying gave him. He also knew that no matter how hard or how fast he flew he still would have to come back to earth.

Ginny stood and watched as Harry flew through his paces. She could tell by how fast he was flying that he was deeply troubled by what had happened at lunch. Ginny was sure the reason that he had left was because of Rita Skeeter's article. Once again, rumors about Harry were starting up again, and Harry hated rumors.

Ginny sighed. She knew that Harry wanted nothing more than to be friends. Ginny had decided shortly into this new relationship with Harry that they would be nothing more than just friends. She had done more than enough to hurt Harry when she ended things with him a couple of years ago, she was happy just to be his friend. Lately, however she had allowed herself some hope that maybe they could have something more. She had thought she had seen something in the way Harry had looked at her. She now knew that she was just seeing what she wanted to see.

Ginny smiled at Harry as he gently landed next to her.

"Hi." She said softly, "I guess we need to talk."

What if I don't want to? Harry thought to himself as Ginny finished. I know where this is going, and I really don't want to go there. Harry sat down next to Ginny, but did not say what was on his mind.

"I guess we do." He tried to sound like his heart was not breaking into a thousand pieces. He just got her back, and now he was going to lose her all over again. All over a stupid newspaper article he thought.

Ginny looked at Harry, she was really not sure where to begin.

"Harry, these last few weeks have been…" She stopped. For some reason she couldn't finish her sentence. She also did not want Harry to see how badly she felt.

Ginny felt her heart stop as Harry smiled at her.

"Like a dream." He finished for her. Harry knew he needed to let Ginny know he was ok with what was about to happen. Actually he wasn't but he did not want Ginny to feel she owed him something.

"Listen Ginny," He took her hand, "I want to thank you for helping me out over the last few weeks," he looked away as he continued, his mouth went dry as he continued, "I knew I should not have gotten my hopes up…"

Ginny just stared at Harry for a second or two, not believing what she was hearing. Was he telling her that he wanted more than just friendship as well? She took a deep breath and asked.

"What do you mean get your hopes up?"

Harry looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car. He had not meant to say that, it just came out. He decided he might as well come clean with her.

"Ginny, you made things pretty clear when we broke up that you did not want to be together. I am sorry, but over the last few weeks I let myself believe you wanted…"

Ginny interrupted Harry with a laugh. Harry just looked at her sadly.

Ginny saw the sad look in Harry's eyes and knew what he was thinking right away. She took his hand.

"Harry, are you saying you want to be more than friends?"

Harry sighed, and answered her softly.

"Gin, I," He looked at her, he was not sure but was that hope he saw in her eyes, "When you ended things you made it clear you did not want to be with me as a girlfriend. I was just happy to have you back as a friend. However as time went by I found I wanted more. I know you can't give me what I am looking for and I would never…"

Harry never got to finish what he was saying because Ginny suddenly threw herself at him. The next thing he knew they were kissing. After a minute they parted, and just looked at each other. Harry did not need to ask, he knew he was home.

Harry Potter was finally home….

End


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